Lock Step and Gone
by shy1214
Summary: the sequel to Things Change which follows Jackie and Hyde's foster son Sherlock on his path to them and their extended family.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing

Venice beach California, 1976

He couldn't believe it! They'd really done it, they'd really fucking done it! His mom and step dad had actually fucking traded him! Sean stood staring at the piece of shit drug dealer Mickey as his strung out mom explained that he would be going with Mickey that was the brilliant plan her drug soaked brain had devised to pay off her debt to the putrid man who stunk of sweat and some kind of decay that he really didn't care to identify. Sean's moment of shock ended the second mickey reached one huge sweaty hand out for him.

"Two seconds to act or you're a prisoner forever" Sean told himself, then with impressive speed even for an 11 year old, he lashed out with one skinny leg and connected with mickeys crotch. Sean heard the piece of shit hit the ground, but didn't hang around to see. With the cries of his mother following him to 'get back there and help his family' Sean ran into the dingy bathroom and swiftly locked the door, the lock was garbage it wouldn't stop even his skinny mom for long, but it was long enough for Sean to scramble out the window and shimmy down the fire escape. Less than two minutes after dropping mickey, Sean was speeding down the road on his skateboard with no idea where he was going?

He had no one and no money and no idea what he should – of even could do?

Unconsciously he went to the zephyr shop where the people he looked up to and trusted were, he wasn't close with them – he was a lot younger than the youngest member – but they knew his name, and wouldn't call the cops, that was the best Sean could hope for at the moment.

He kicked his board into his hands and went in the door, sure enough about six of them were there just hanging around with nothing else to do.

"Hey Sherlock! What's got you all sketched out bro?" Wentzle asked curiously

"I gotta get out of town, like fucking now!" Sean said with a panicked note in his voice, this got the attention of the only person in the room who wasn't stoned yet from the joint making the rounds, jay.

"What's going on Sherlock?" jay asked, his interest piqued by the always cool as ice kid looking around like any second his number was up.

"She fucking sold me! My own damn mom paid off her debt to mickey and daffy with me!" he growled, torn between anger and pain at what she'd done to him.

"Shit" jay breathed, the two men Sean spoke of were well known in their neighborhood, partly because of the ludicrous nicknames they'd chosen to go by, and partly because of the sheer evil they were all too comfortable with.

Jay knew what lay in store for the little skate rat kid if those two got ahold of him, and as long as Sherlock stayed in dog town they would find him – that was not a debatable point. Sherlock was right, he needed to get out of town as soon as possible, and keep moving until he was far enough away that it wouldn't be worth it for mickey and daffy to follow him. But no one at the shop had a car, and most of them wouldn't get involved with a situation like this, but jay felt for the kid, he wasn't really what you'd call 'nice', but he was good on a board for a kid, and he was smart as fuck, which was how he'd earned the nick name 'Sherlock' well and because his last name was Holmes.

After running through all the options he could think of, jay spoke to the wild eyed kid.

"I think I can get you to Hermosa, from there you'll be on your own but it's a start" he told him with a shrug that said it was the best option available to him.

Sean stared at jay "well?! What the fuck are you waiting for?! Let's go!" he shouted.

Jay laughed his wild man laugh, and jumped up to lead Sherlock out of the back of the shop, there was a VW bus there with its side door open and surf boards strapped to the top.

"get in Sherlock, there going surfing in Hermosa, they won't give a shit that you're hitching a ride so long as you don't hang around once they get there. I don't know what you're going to do once you get there, but that's the best I can do" jay told him with a shrug, knowing that any fate Sherlock encountered there would be better than what the drug dealers would use him for.

Sherlock gave jay a nod that he understood, and climbed into the van while jay told the guys in the front that he'd be riding to Hermosa with them, but used the nickname only the Z boys used for the kid, that way if mickey and daffy ever asked around about 'Sean Holmes' they wouldn't have anything to tell them.

While they drove to Hermosa Sean sat silently in the back thinking. He didn't have any money; he didn't have anything with him but a skateboard, as options went he was screwed. But he'd die on the streets before he went back to the fate he knew he'd have in Venice if the dealers found him, he'd heard about what they did and he was well aware that he wasn't the first kid they'd taken in trade from junkie parents. He refused to suffer their same fate.

There must be some sort of help out there for kids in his situation, he thought hopefully.

But over the next few years Sherlock lost that hope.

After a few weeks in Hermosa he got spooked by something someone said at a party house he'd found to crash at, he wasn't positive they'd been talking about the men that considered him property, but why take a chance? Sherlock hid in the back of a car that he'd heard was heading north. He ended up in San Francisco and spent his first winter as a street kid there, he also learned that you can't trust adults there after a worker at the shelter tried to wheedle information about him out of Sherlock to contact his parents and send him home. Sherlock took off from that 'well meaning' place so fast the worker was left staring at the place he'd been.

After that he refused to stay at shelters unless he absolutely had to. He did make some friends though, kids a few years older than him that showed him how to live on the streets without starving or being exploited, they were strange looking kids with funny colored hair and ragged clothes. He learned how to get by, how to spot fake people that couldn't be trusted, how to make his way on his own terms.

He learned the art of breaking into empty houses for a place to sleep, and doing odd jobs for food, and he learned to trust his instincts about people. He got by, even if it wasn't much of a life he was in charge of it. But he grew cold and hard from living that way, lock - as he was generally known – didn't trust a single person. But he never forgot what had almost happened to him back in Venice and developed a habit of looking out for the younger kids he ran across. The flip side of that though was that he had more than once, seriously injured older kids that bullied or tried to take advantage of them, until all that an in that circle knew to steer clear of him.

Lock would fight at the least provocation, the anger in him boiled to the surface so fast it surprised anyone who witnessed it, and at 15 he was scary to those that had seen some terrible things and he didn't care. Every once in a great while, lock wondered about what would become of his life? There weren't many options for a kid in his situation, his choices were crime drugs or prostitution and none of those sounded too appealing to him. But he quickly banished those sorts of thoughts from his head whenever they appeared, each day was a standalone, the day before forgotten and the next day not given a thought, that was the only way to live – to survive.

Then something totally unexpected happened to lock – he made a friend.

A fellow street kid who went by the name pebbles (like the cartoon character) she was sweet and funny, and helped lock learn a lot of tricks to get by. She was a few years older than him, about 17 from what she said once, and for the first time since he was much younger – lock gave a damn about another person. He should have known, he should have kept his guard up, he should have known better than to give a shit about someone!

Just when he cared about her, just when he thought she would be there, pebbles bailed on him! After everything she said to him about sticking together and not letting the world get the better of you, she fucking OD'd on him! What little speck of humanity left in lock faded away when he found pebbles cold and unresponsive, wrapped in her blanket in the corner of the abandoned church they and the others they knew had been staying in.

He'd stood up without a word, grabbed his backpack and his skateboard, and walked out of the church and straight to the bus station.

"What's the next bus?" he asked the ticket window.

"There's a 10:30 to los Angeles, and a 12:45 to Berkeley" the bored clerk told him, consulting the timetable.

There was no way in hell lock was going back to the southern part of the state, so Berkeley it was. Lock searched through the pockets of his battered and patched leather jacket (which he'd found on the floor of a punk show he'd gone to a year before) and just barely managed to pay the fair.

The ticket clerk narrowed his eyes at lock as if he'd just realized something about the stony faced teen with the safety pin through his lip?

"You old enough to travel by yourself kid?" he asked lock suspiciously

Lock glared back at the man with a palpable air of menace "do you actually give a damn? Just give me the ticket bro and mind your own business" lock snapped

"Hey kid, word to the wise – watch your damn mouth to people that can call the cops" he threatened

Lock leaned closer to the man who he pegged to be somewhere in his 30's, he scanned over the guy with a quick sweep of his eyes, "word to the wise pal – don't fuck with me if you want your car drivable and your boss not to find out about what you do on your breaks?" lock hissed threateningly, and tapped the telltale burn marks on the guys finger nails which told lock he frequently used them to hold a roach. "You get what I'm saying…Alex?" lock asked reading the man's name tag.

"you little basterd!" Alex growled in a low voice that wouldn't carry to the other passengers, but the panic in his eyes told lock that he'd won.

"Give me the damn ticket Alex and you'll never see me again" lock purred dangerously

Without another word the bus station worker handed over the ticket to the unsettlingly scary 14 year old and let out a sigh of relief when he watched to kid board a bus out of town, it would be a long time before he power tripped on a lower class kid again.

Lock went to the back of the bus where he could be alone, he tried his best to push all the thoughts about pebbles out of his mind, a tiny voice was telling him he shouldn't hate her for dying, but the part of him that couldn't cope with losing the first person he'd cared at all about in years shouted that tiny voice down. Junkies had ruined his life and he wouldn't spare a moment of pity for them even in death!

Berkeley wasn't anything special as far as he could see, every city he'd been too over the last three years had its nice parts and its bad parts and as always lock made his way quickly to the part of town where he'd attack the least notice. In no time at all he'd found the usual group of street kids mainly made up of runaways just like him, and took his place on the periphery of their group. He was pegged as useful right away, but they found out just how jaded and dangerous he was the moment one of them thought they could take advantage of him because of his age – they never tried twice.

The closest to happy Sherlock got was when they went to one of the all ages shows around town, he got to take out some of his considerable aggression in the pit and for once blend in with the crowd, the only other thing that came close was when he rode his skateboard on the empty streets and could for a few moments forget the nightmare that was his existence.

There was no telling what would have become of him if not for two things that irrevocably changed Sherlock's life, the first was meeting two innocent kids fresh to the life he was so used to, he saw right away what easy marks for the darker side of the city they were and decided to look out for them until they learned how to take care of themselves, the second was agreeing to go with them to the youth shelter they had heard about and wanted to check out.

That's where he met the person who would change his life.

A/N so that's the start of it, hope you like it, I'll probably revert to a more normal (for me) narrative this was just how I could figure to set up this story, as usual any suggestions will be considered, let me know what you think, or not, whatever.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N hello, so I feel the need to explain something that you've all been kind enough to let slide – I suck at punctuation, I also can't spell worth crap, I use the spell check on Microsoft word and I swear it has a fascist hatred of all the names I use! And that is the reason why it refuses to capitalize them. And although I know I should proof read again before I post a chapter, but it goes something like this – shy gets a day off, shy writes for a few hours, shy feels guilty she has done fuck all but write when there is work to be done around the house, shy does a quick spell check and then posts chapter and banks on the readers understanding and goodwill towards the flaws. I'd love to say I'll try harder….but I'm lucky I carve out time to do what I already do, but I am sorry if it's annoying or makes it hard to read, also I have no idea what ao3 is?

Lock hadn't been back to the youth shelter in a few months (a few too many prying questions) but after a particularly bad fight where he was out numbered, he decided that he'd put up with the meddling workers if it meant he could rest for a while without having to worry, the other kids who stayed there knew to steer clear of him and those that didn't know would be warned quick enough.

He'd walked in and braced for the reactions he knew would be coming. Sure enough one of the young not yet jaded staff was at his side asking if he was ok and a hundred other questions Lock had no intention of answering. He grunted something that didn't qualify as words, and headed for an empty bed. He dropped his back pack at the foot of the cot and fell heavily onto the mattress intent on going to sleep as soon as he was able.

A few of the kids that knew they could trust him waved hello, but knew better than to try and talk to him until he'd gotten some rest, even the staff didn't want to bother him when he looked that tired and pissed off. Lock laid back and sighed, he was too tired to block out the dark thoughts that haunted him on a daily basis and slipped into a nightmare.

A gentle hand stopped his thrashing, and a soft voice called out to him that it was ok, he was safe. Locks eyes flew open and settled furiously on the person dumb enough to touch him while he was asleep! Or at all really, Lock wasn't a touchy feely kind of guy under the best circumstances. It took a moment for the sleep to fade out of his gray eyes enough for them to focus on the person who'd dare touch him.

Sitting on the edge of the cot was the single most beautiful, put together looking woman Lock had ever seen, he knew right away she wasn't one of the shelter kids, but the look that so angered him in the eyes of the social workers – wasn't there in hers? He stared hard into the woman's eyes and noticed that one was blue and the other green, if he hadn't been so furious at the intrusion on his space, he might have asked about the anomaly – but he was pissed off.

"The fuck you doing lady?!" he snapped while pulling away from her touch.

"You were having a nightmare, so I was trying to wake you up" she explained unperturbed at his outburst or the dark threatening look on his face.

"Did I ask for your help lady? Who the hell are you anyway?" Lock spat angrily while he pulled himself into a sitting positions and tried to shake the grogginess from his head.

"If I waited for stubborn boys to ask for my help id have enough time to learn mandarin" the pretty girl told him dryly "and since you asked soooo politely, my names Jackie" she told Lock with a small smirk.

Lock sized her up with the speed he'd honed over the last few years of danger and sketchy situations, she wasn't afraid, not of him – not yet.

He was about to tell her to buzz off, but she was already talking again.

"Don't bother introducing yourself, I already know your name, you're infamous around here Sherlock" she told him without the smirk on her face shifting a millimeter when he glared back at her.

"Good for you, did you pick up the part about how I don't like you do-gooders pushing their noses in my business?" he asked flatly

"Yeah, the other councilors might have said something about how you don't like to be bothered or something? But it was boring and stupid so I stopped listening, I mean – sure you're pissed off and scary and all that but why would I avoid you because of it? So far as I'm concerned your whole grumpy deal means I should just try that much harder to get to know you!" she said happily

Sherlock wondered if she was too dumb to know how crazy she sounded, or too crazy to know how dumb what she was saying was? Whichever it was Sherlock was working on a way to get the perky woman to leave him alone so he could get back to sleep.

"Look lady, I don't want to get to know you or anybody else ok? I just wanted a shower and some sleep, if you aren't going to let me sleep then what's the point of this fucking place?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Jackie rolled her eyes at his attitude, but it wasn't anything so far she couldn't handle.

"well excuse me for wanting to be friendly!" she cried throwing her hands in the air and hiding a smile when she saw that he seemed to think he'd won, her eyes fell on a familiar name scrawled in black marker on the problem child's dirty backpack.

"You like Rockwall Flood?!" she asked smiling hugely at the truculent teen.

His reaction was much what she expected, complete with eye roll "right, like you've ever actually heard of them? Give it up lady, I've had a lot of your kind try and find a way to make a connection with me, but someone like you trying to claim you've heard of a band like them? That's almost sad, do yourself a favor and go feel like a good person by bugging someone else ok?" he told her with a pitying note for her lame attempt with him.

"Ok Mr., I'm going to go for now, but don't you think you've won! You are hardly the first person to misjudge me and ill prove you wrong just like I did to them, you and I will be friends you mark my words!" Jackie told him ominously while pointing one perfectly painted red nail at his startled face.

In Sherlock's experience, it didn't take much to run off one of the young idealist social workers or volunteers. Even the ones that weren't intimidated by him tended to respect his wish of space and left him alone, but this crazy eyed woman was not only standing up to him, but threatening him with friendship! Sherlock shook his head at her insanity and settled back onto the cot, he could ignore this one longer than she could keep up her efforts to win him over, and even if she never tired (she seemed to have more than the normal amount of energy) he could always simply leave the shelter. This thought made him smile triumphantly to himself, one way or the other he would be the victor….or so he thought.

Not even two days later Sherlock heard the unmistakable voice of Miss Jackie as the other kids called her, he'd asked around a bit about her after she'd intruded on his personal space before and learned that she was a solid favorite of all the kids there, not only did her sunny personality cheer them up, but they trusted this young woman and would go to her with even their most private troubles. But Sherlock wasn't going to be pulled in so easily, she might be nice and cheerful and all that, but after Pebbles he would be damned if he ever trusted another person again. he'd thought Pebbles was his best friend, that she really cared about him, but she'd bailed on him for fucking heroin like more than a few before her had!

Sherlock kept his head down staring resolutely at his book while miss Jackie's voice grew closer and closer, he hoped she would stay away from him and not force him to be mean, she seemed like a nice enough person but kindness was lost on him and she would be better off to keep her distance from the trouble that he knew he was.

"That's a good book you've got there" a woman's voice he didn't recognize said from over him.

Sherlock looked up at the new arrival, his jaw fell open and he could only gape at her. It was King Macgregor from Rockwall! What the hell was she doing at a youth shelter?! Sherlock wondered blankly while he kept staring rudely at his hero. King grinned at him and plucked the book out of his hands while taking a seat at the end of the cot without waiting for an invitation.

"Edmond Dantes was fucking badass! He didn't get his revenge by killing, he ripped those mother fuckers' worlds apart and sailed off into the sunset" King said while flipping through his battered paper back, her voice impressed with the hero's quest.

"you're….you're…" he stammered embarrassingly, he'd followed and loved her band since he'd first heard them, hell, he'd traveled to other towns just to watch them play, and now there she was sitting on his cot holding his book and talking about Edmonds carefully planned revenge.

"Kingsley Macgregor" she said with a crooked grin and held out one calloused hand to him, Sherlock hesitantly shook her offered hand, still looking like a total dork at meeting his idol.

"Sherlock" he told her softly

"Oh I heard all about you already kid" she told him with a knowing smirk.

"You did?" Sherlock asked unable to figure how that could be possible?

Kings raised one eyebrow and gave him a hard look "you had a bit of a run in the other day with my best friend" she informed him pointedly

"I did?" Sherlock asked again, he was fully aware he sounded like an ass, but what else could he say? He had no recollection of what she was talking about.

"You did" King told him again

"When, who?" he asked blankly

King grinned again and pointed over at Miss Jackie where she was handing out tiny soaps and shampoo's she'd somehow gotten a local hotel to donate to the shelter.

"She's your best friend?!" Sherlock nearly shouted.

"Well, she's one of them yes" King said thoughtfully

"How is someone like miss sunshine over there YOUR best friend?" he just couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Watch the attitude kid" King told him sharply "she's tougher then you'd think kid, hell I'd bet even money she's tougher then you. That chicks lost everything she's ever known and been left in the cold by everyone she cared about and she still picked herself up and chose to help a bunch of difficult pissed off kids" King spoke of Jackie with calm respect and Sherlock took notice.

"Sorry, it's just…you two seem too different to be friends you know?" he explained less rudely

"Yeah I get what you mean, but that's sort of why I agreed to come here today. Now before you get it in your head that she asked me to come meet you so she'd seem cool, let me tell you that is not the case. Jackie asked me to come here and meet you because she found out you like my band and she wanted to do something that'd make you happy – she wants all of you here to be happy and if she finds a way to bring that happiness to you she'll bulldoze anyone to make it happen – including me! So that's why I'm here – someone I love and respect asked me to do them a favor, but now that I've met you I want you to understand a few things. Jackie isn't going to give up on this place no matter what so I don't want to hear about you making it harder on her, and that includes giving her shit for being cheerful and peppy! I might not share her….constant enthusiasm, but I do appreciate it and if you give her a chance you will too" King told him quietly

"I don't have a problem with her specifically, but I don't trust these people that claim to want to help" Sherlock half explained.

"Hey I get that, I really do and being cautious around people you don't know is smart. Especially in a place like this where they're required to send you back to a home that might not be safe because the law says they have to, I know Jackie's still torn up over a case like that from a few weeks back. All I'm asking you to do kid, is to give her a chance and treat her with the respect she deserves, she's not what she seems at first glance, she's not like the others – she cares. Don't make a snap judgment on her because she defies categorization, do you think you can do that Sherlock?" King asked him.

Maybe it was because she didn't have that tone of condescension he was so used to, or because what she had said about being judged unfairly struck a chord with him? But Sherlock found himself promising the woman he so admired, that he would give her unlikely friend a fair chance. In return King uncapped a pen with her teeth and wrote a small message inside his copy of the count of Monte Cristo. She slapped his hand in a low five and said she'd see him later, before strolling away to speak to Jackie. Sherlock looked down at what King had written to him and frowned.

'In the end, we all have to let go of our anger and let ourselves move on' he didn't exactly understand what she meant by that? But as he watched her and Jackie laugh and talk across the large room Sherlock saw that she was right – there was more to this crusader then he'd run across before and he'd have to approach her differently than he had the others.

It was much later when Jackie eventually made her way to where Sherlock sat thinking over his conversation with King; she hadn't been what he'd been expecting. After so many Rockwall shows, Sherlock had thought she would be a crazy punk with no regard for anything, but that wasn't the vibe he'd gotten from talking to her, she was calm and smart and totally cool, he hoped he'd meet her again under better circumstances but he wasn't about to fake it with Jackie to meet King again.

But he would give her a fair chance like King had asked him to.

Jackie pulled up a chair beside his cot and waited patiently for him to speak first, it took a few minutes for Sherlock to crack but he did.

"So you really do know who Rockwall is I guess" he said as a sort of apology for their last conversation, frankly it was more than Jackie had expected.

"So it would seem" Jackie grinned slightly at his struggle between being nice and being the only way he knew.

"She – King, she uh said that I shouldn't judge you without getting to know you" Sherlock shared with Jackie grudgingly.

"King has this way of cutting through your bullshit and saying what's real, I've been on the receiving end and although at first it's not what you'd call 'pleasant', after a while you come to appreciate it because it really does help" Jackie told him truthfully

"It wasn't too bad…I wouldn't want to do it too often or anything" he added dryly

"Yeah my fiancé's gone through it a lot more then I have and he's usually a bit quiet after she's done with him" Jackie laughed softly at a memory Sherlock could only imagine.

"You look too young to have a fiancé, how old are you anyway?" Sherlock asked bordering on rudely.

"I am 20 thank you very much! How old are you?!" she snapped indignantly, the only thing worse than people thinking you're old is them thinking you're still a kid.

"Not sure really? 14 or 15, I was born in '65 but it's been awhile since I've bothered with celebrating a birthday ya know?" he said with a wry smirk.

Jackie felt too sad at such a calm acceptance of losing his childhood for reasons she didn't yet know, to say anything for a moment, she had to pause to keep from the sadness showing in her voice. Had Sherlock been looking at Jackie he doubtless would have seen it, but as it happened he was staring uncomfortably at the wool blanket on his cot. He wasn't at all used to feeling anything for anyone, and he found himself not minding too much that she was still sitting across from him.

Jackie observed him for another moment and decided on a course of action for him.

"You can tell that hearing that makes me very sad can't you?" Jackie asked him in a tone that said she was sure of what she said; she had a theory that this jaded damaged boy was far cleverer than the shelter workers had thought.

"So what if I can? Most people that have had a normal birthday with cake and presents and shit would feel sad for someone who hadn't, the problem is that most of them feel that sadness because it makes it harder for them to relate to the person who didn't have what they did, sends them scrambling for common ground, but without such a normal point of reference in common the person that didn't have what they did might as well be a monster for all they can relate to them, they're not sad for the other person, they're sad for themselves. They don't see a person like that as a person, they see them as a poor unfortunate soul who needs to be fixed, and that automatically puts them above the other person – at least in their own mind. But I'm not below anyone, and I'm not going to let them think I am even for a second just to be polite!" Sherlock said angrily and with deep conviction,

Jackie was sure of her assessment of him more than ever.

"I think that that might be true sometimes, but that if you look for the best in people you have a good chance of finding it" Jackie told him solemnly

"Sounds like a nice fairy tale, but sorry if I don't think it's possible" Sherlock told her gravely.

"well you don't right now, but I intend to restore at least a tiny bit of your faith in people, not all at once and not quickly, but eventually" Jackie told him seriously

Sherlock regarded her for a few moments and finally gave Jackie a slight half smile "we'll see about that"

"Do they call you Sherlock because you're that smart?" Jackie asked curiously, changing topics as quickly as ever.

"That's part of it I guess, most of the time people just call me Lock" he told her with a shrug

"Ugh! Boys and their tough nicknames!" she sighed irritably

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sherlock asked with a confused expression.

"It's a long story" Jackie told him with a shake of her dark hair and a wry smile.

Sherlock stared back at her for a moment as if he was considering something? At last he made a move; he set his book aside and crossed his arms behind his head.

"If I had somewhere to be id be there already" he told her.

Jackie knew an invitation to talk when she heard one – rare though it had been – and crossed her legs to get comfortable.

"So it was my first day at public school" she began her story and her bid to become someone Sherlock trusted.


	3. Chapter 3

I own nothing and I find it amusing that this needs to be said, one would think it's obvious.

Sherlock lay in bed unable to sleep, the conversation with Jackie played over and over in his troubled mind and Sherlock grew more and more edgy. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd let too much slip while talking with her, that he'd allowed her to see too much of himself. Sherlock felt exposed and foolish, neither of which he could easily cope with.

Finally he gave up on sleep and sat up on the narrow cot, a part of his mind was telling him that he could trust his instinct that Jackie was ok and not like the others, but as usual it was overpowered by the part of his brain that was convinced he was worthless and anyone who claimed to think differently was lying because they wanted something, or wanted to laugh at him behind his back. He knew himself to be unlikable, and was certain that those that sought out his company did so only because he was useful to them in some way.

The tight feeling in his chest wouldn't relax, the chagrin at having spoken so freely with Jackie grew worse, the urge to defend who he really was to the phantom version of what Jackie was thinking about him became overpowering. So Sherlock did the only thing he could ever think to do in these situations (which weren't new), he got up, grabbed his pack and slipped out of the shelter into the night to put distance between himself the person who'd gotten too close.

Outside in the darkness on the deserted street Sherlock stopped and took a deep breath, once again he would start over where he was unknown and work harder to keep it that way, he reaffirmed that the next place he stopped at no one would learn anything about him that showed even a hint of weakness. He would show them only the parts of himself that kept people at bay, he would be the ambassador of his worse side, he would not let a single person come within arm's length.

With that firmly in mind, Sherlock skated away down the street.

It was several months before Jackie found out that Sherlock had disappeared in the night. First because she had taken vacation from her volunteer work to work on the wedding, then because when little Maddox came she refused to be anywhere but on hand for any and everything King might need while she recuperated and adjusted, so when she returned to her normal routine she was shocked and furious to find out that not only had Sherlock taken off without a word, but that none of the other workers bothered to call her!

A few tried to claim that they didn't want to bother her while she was on vacation, blah, blah, blah, but Jackie could see right through their flimsy excuses – Sherlock was difficult, his word with the other kids at the shelter held more weight than that of the workers and they resented him for it, while also being somewhat afraid of his cold stare. They hadn't told Jackie he'd flown the coop because not only did they not care, they were relieved to see him gone.

Jackie descended on the lacking shelter workers like a biblical storm! A precious few escaped unscathed from her furry, how dare they forget so easily their purpose to care and protect the lost children of the area?! Simply because dealing with Sherlock made their life's somewhat harder, they just let him leave without blinking an eye! Jackie was sure that had she known about his leaving soon after it happened – and not months after the fact! – She couldn't have asked around until she found him, but now that was impossible it was just too late.

When she had reduced the at fault staff to a cringing mass of regret and promises of reform, she stood glaring around while she thought of anything she could do to find him again? But she had no resources at her disposal; the kids there were almost expected to run away at some point, the standing notion was to focus on the kids that stayed and not waist energy on those that didn't want help. She mentally added this to her laundry list of problems with the social work system; it reaffirmed her resolve to do what she could to change it.

Still too pissed off to look at the people who hadn't cared enough to bother, Jackie left for the day. She went home and sat at the little round table she and Hyde had found at a flea market and put in their kitchen, and stared off into space while she racked her brains to think of what she could do to track down Sherlock? It had taken Jackie all of three seconds to see that Sherlock was different and needed a special approach, it was also clear to her that something far worse than the usual reason for running away had driven Sherlock onto the streets, the haunted look she'd seen in his piercing gray eyes was one that she'd only seen one other place, it was the same look that Kick and Mr. Forman got when they were forced to remember the wars they'd served in. it was the look people got when they had experienced a horror both unbelievable and unknowable, a kind that made them feel alone and damaged, whatever had happened to Sherlock was not something he could deal with on his own.

Jackie slammed her hand down on the table in frustration, there was nothing she could do no matter how hard she wracked her brain.

"What's up jacks?" Steven asked, having just gotten home and walked in to find his new wife looking more upset than he'd seen her since point place.

"Remember that kid you asked me about after the wedding, Sherlock? Well while I was gone he took off and not a damn person there thought to call me when it happened and let me know! Now he's god known where and there's not a fucking way I can think of to find him! He's not like the others puddin', there's an anger there - some kind of wound that there's absolutely no way he can cope with alone" she tried to explain why this runaway was upsetting her more than the many others.

Hyde sat down next to Jackie and rubbed her shoulder soothingly "I'm sorry babe, I wish I could help I really do, but it sounds like all you can do is wait and hope that he comes back" he admitted the truth reluctantly, Hyde still wanted to fix everything for Jackie, but if there was one thing he knew it was angry teenage guys, and he was sure that this Sherlock kid wouldn't turn up until he wanted to.

The look of defeat on Jackie's face told him that she knew it too, but had to examine every option before she would accept that there was no course of action, Jackie didn't quit and she didn't give up on almost anyone, hell she'd kept at him since high school that he was worth more than he thought and now he believed it too. She had a way of dragging your better self out of you kicking and screaming, but he had to admit he was better for her efforts, and did not at all miss waking up with the taste of vomit and regret in his mouth each day. For her sake Hyde hoped the kid turned up alright, Jackie felt responsible for every kid that crossed her path and from the way she had talked about Sherlock, Hyde had already known that he was special to Jackie.

Since there was nothing she could do Jackie forced herself to pick up and resume her work without letting her worries about Sherlock's possible fate get the better of her, but she never forgot him, there was something about the brooding teen that struck a chord with her and she felt like it would be a betrayal to push him out of her mind for her own comfort. Whenever he crossed her mind a frown settled on Jackie's usually sunny face.

This was exactly what happened one day while she was hanging out with King and baby Maddox. King was sitting on the floor with her hair firmly tied up to avoid Mad's strong tiny fingers – her many earrings were taken out too after she'd almost had her earlobe ripped open by the tiny boy, she would have looked strange for herself if she hadn't been wearing nearly destroyed black jeans and a worn Fishbone t-shirt that read 'Fuck Racism' which was very Kingsley.

"What's up kid? You've got that look like something's eating at you" King asked bluntly while playing with the tuft of soft red hair on Mad's head, when his hair had begun growing in red King had been understandably confused, her hair was so dark it looked black and Connor's was a fairly dark brown as well. That's when Connor had mentioned casually that his hair had been red until he was about 13 and it had darkened, but if he ever grew a beard (which was not allowed by King) it grew in red. King had been less than impressed that he hadn't thought to ever mention this - which had led her to freaking out that they'd mixed up the babies at the hospital, Connor had groveled a lot to smooth that one over.

Jackie looked up from where she was closely inspecting Mad's tiny captivating toes and sighed "I can't shake the feeling that Sherlock's out there in trouble or something" she admitted heavily.

"well I would think that that's probably because there's a good chance he is, street kids don't have it easy under the best circumstances and he stands very little chance of having a smooth ride" King said with honest regret, she still chose not to say things she didn't mean even to give false comfort, this was something Jackie deeply appreciated about her friend.

"What should I do?" Jackie asked helplessly

"all you can do is not forget him, rough looking street kids are the worlds forgotten children, most people that see these kids force them out of their minds quickly so they don't feel uncomfortable, just don't forget" King shrugged, there was nothing else to say about it, without knowing where he would have gone or his real name all Jackie could do was make sure she never forgot him and hope maybe someday he'd turn up.

"Do you think there's any hope he'll show up again?" Jackie asked sadly

"Of course there's hope Jackie, nothing is impossible in this world just some things highly improbable, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't hope for the best" King comforted her with her usual honesty, knowing that lying to Jackie was never a good choice. So Jackie promised herself she wouldn't push Sherlock out of her mind to make herself more comfortable, but she wouldn't have long to wait until she had an answer about what had happened to Sherlock.

It hadn't been hard for Sherlock to get out of town as quickly as he had decided to do so, over the years his skills had been honed to impressive levels and within an hour of making his decision he was in a truck bed heading out of Berkeley. He had gotten sick of hitch hiking somewhere along the coast in one of the many towns beginning with 'San', he hadn't bothered retaining which one since he didn't plan on staying long enough for it to matter. He'd heard someone say once that real street kids know every inch and every alley of wherever their staying, Sherlock figured that might be true for some, but for him he only bothered giving up space in his memory for it when he'd decided to stay for a while, otherwise the space was too valuable to clutter with temporary information.

He did learn the name of the town he'd stopped in after a few shitty weeks, but not in the way he usually did, Sherlock learned it because he was sitting on a filthy bench staring at a sign that read 'San Rafael police department' through the bars of the holding cell they'd thrown him roughly into.

While he was realistic enough to accept that a large part of why he was in said cell, was his own fault, Sherlock was still furious that he was the only one currently waiting for a smug ego tripping dick with a bad mustache to give him his phone call!

Furious but not surprised.

The part that was his fault was that he had been breaking into a car that had a wallet in plain view on the seat, it was just too tempting for him and his empty stomach to pass up and even though a little voice told him he should feel guilty about it – he didn't, and he knew he'd do it again without hesitation. The part that pissed Sherlock off and made him nearly glare a hole in the cinder block wall, was that the polo shirt, khaki slack wearing preppy mother fuckers that saw him popping the cars door open with his trusty slim Jim, didn't call the cops or even just scare him off with the four against one odds, no! these prep school fuckers out on a coke fueled bar crawl thought it would be fun to play vigilante and jumped a kid five years younger than them who hadn't eaten in three days!

No matter how much of a fight Sherlock put up he couldn't take on four jacked up frat boys, but he had tried anyway, in retrospect he was man enough to admit that might not have been his best idea. He was bruised to hell, covered in dried blood – not all of which was his – and was pretty damn sure he'd cracked a rib. He took solace in the fact that he'd seriously hurt at least one of the assholes that'd attacked him, this thought made Sherlock smirk, but it faded just as quickly when he remembered that when the cops had inevitable shown up, it was only Sherlock who had been arrested even though they had attacked him and they were adults while he was a minor. But the douchebag cop, who'd arrived first, took one look at Sherlock and his attackers and thanked them for their civic mindedness while he handcuffed Sherlock and shoved him into the back of the car without a care for his bloodied state.

He knew he shouldn't be surprised, it was hardly a revelation that people who looked clean and shiny were more quickly believed than the scruffy dregs of society, but he would have thought that a group of spun out adults beating up a kid would have at least earned them a trip to the station for questioning? But no, he was alone in the cell pissed off and hurt and half amused that the cops thought he had anyone to use his one phone call on.

Sherlock stopped being amused real damn quickly when one of the passing cops told him they'd found out his name and had already contacted his parents to come get him. Sherlock's throat went dry with panic, and it was all he could do not to curl up on the floor and puke with fear and worry.

"What about my phone call?!" he nearly shouted at the man

The officer looked confused "I just told you we called your folks for you" he said like he thought Sherlock hadn't understood.

"So that means I don't have rights anymore?! I'm entitled to a phone call and I want it right fucking now! Sir" he added less manically, hoping to get what he wanted.

Not wanting to deal with the weird kid with a safety pin in his lip any longer than he had to, the officer brought over the phone and gave Sherlock some privacy.

Sherlock stared at the phone for a minute before dialing a number he'd committed to memory as he had a habit of doing, he listened to it ring three times before a voice said 'hello'

"Jackie? Its Sherlock…..I'm in real trouble can you….will you come get me please?" he asked haltingly, he knew he didn't deserve anything from Jackie but he was prepared to do anything – including tell Jackie the truth about himself – to avoid the fate that awaited him if his mom and step dad got to him first.

Jackie stood with the phone in her hand so shocked she nearly dropped the receiver, it had been months since she had learned that Sherlock had left town and now he was on the phone humbly asking her to come help him out of some bind he hadn't yet explained.

"Sherlock where are you, what happened?" Jackie asked worriedly

"I'm in the San Rafael police station, I got in some trouble tonight but that's not why I need help, Jackie…they called my mom" he said in a terrified voice she could hardly imagine coming from the boy she'd met "I can't go with her! Do you understand?! I fucking cant! Please, please, please, come here and get me out before she can get here, I'll do anything you want! Just don't let them get me Jackie!" she whispered urgently with true honest fear.

"One hour, I'll be there in one hour if I have to drive on the damn shoulder the whole way there! Don't worry Sherlock, I'll get there first" Jackie promised and hung up the phone and moved to get her purse in such a hurry she jumped a foot when she turned around right into Hyde, watching her curiously

"What's going on jacks?" he asked evenly, he knew her better than anyone and he could easily see she was distraught to put it mildly.

"that was Sherlock, he'd in jail in San Rafael, he didn't say why but he asked me to come help him, he'd down right terrified that his mother will get there first?" Jackie told Hyde while looking worried about why this scared the poor boy so much, but it did and she would rather act and ask questions later than wait and regret it.

Hyde listened to what she said and drew more form what Sherlock had told her than Jackie had, but then, Hyde knew better than Jackie what a certain kind of parent brought out in you. Hyde grabbed his keys off the counter and motioned for Jackie to follow him.

"You want to come?" she asked slightly surprised, mostly because he'd never even met Sherlock.

"I'm a faster driver than you, I don't get lost as easy, I'm the one who carries cash which can be used for bail, and cops tend to take men more seriously than women, so yeah I'm coming with you" Hyde told her casually.

Jackie smiled at him like he was her hero "thank you puddin'" she said hugging him tightly

"Thank me later doll, were on a tight schedule here, imagine that Edna at her worst was racing us there and you have a slight idea of what's freaking the kid out" Hyde explained while he tossed Jackie her jacket and headed out the door to the El Camino.

"Shit" muttered Jackie darkly when Hyde made this observation, Jackie was one of the very, very few who knew the true horror of his life with Edna, and if Sherlock's mother was similar they HAD to beat the woman there.

Jackie was on Hyde's heels and nearly slammed into him when he stopped short out of nowhere with a stunned look on his face.

"What is it?" Jackie asked worriedly

"It just hit me what Red and Kitty must have felt back then" he murmured softly, then shook himself and strode to the car before Jackie could comment on what he'd said.

A/N so that's all for now, but there will be more don't worry, originally I was going to have them pick him up and the rest, but I can't look a screen anymore for now and adding that part would make the chapter extremely long, so it will be the next one. Hope those that read this enjoyed, let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

I own nothing and make no profit off of this.

Sherlock sat perfectly still and waited, inside he felt like he was about to fly apart – but on the surface he looked like there wasn't a worry in his head. It was a habit he'd gotten into over the years to make sure that not a single person knew what he was thinking and therefor, what he would do in any given situation. Now all it was accomplishing was making the intake officer at the front desk nervous, Sherlock was in direct line of sight of the front desk where officer Lewis sat, and the young ragged looking man's cold blank stare that seemed to be directed at him, when really Sherlock was just spacing out trying not to panic that his mom was going to get there before Jackie.

He had a brief moment where he considered telling the cops, who were all around, what would happen to him if they let his mom take him out of the station, but he couldn't and he hated himself for it. It didn't matter how terrible his mom had been, or how vile what she'd sentenced him to was, where he was from you didn't rat out your family – it was not done. Sherlock told himself that if she did get there before Jackie, he would find a way to escape again, hell – he'd pulled it off when he was 11 there had to be a shot for him now right?...

"Fuck" he sighed helplessly

His only hope was that Jackie got there and could somehow convince a bunch of cops that they should release him into her custody even though they had personally called his custodial parent….Fuck pretty much summed it up he thought objectively.

Not that he didn't respect Jackie (grudgingly) but being cheerful and optimistic wasn't going to make the police break the law, what the hell had he been thinking? His brow furrowed as he considered what was likely to be his fate, Sherlock figured the best he could hope for when Mickey and Daffy got ahold of him was that they used him for breaking legs of those who owed them, but the quiet voice in the back of his head that tended to be more realistic and rational than the rest of him, was bent on reminding him that that was absolutely NOT what was going to happen when they got him.

Officer Lewis was about to say something to the kid in the holding cell about not glaring at him anymore, when the station door burst open and a gorgeous young woman stormed purposefully to his desk.

"Hello, I'm here to get Sherlock" she told him in a shrill impatient tone, officer Lewis glanced down to see that her foot was actually tapping impatiently

"Um, miss? We don't have a 'Sherlock' here, and even if we did there's a process to bailing out a person" he told her slightly off put by her presence, he didn't get a lot of women like her on his normal day to day and he wasn't sure how to react?

The foot stopped tapping, the pursed lips eased into a dazzling smile that had the usual effect on him that it had on most people – total captivation – and the woman's entire demeanor shifted. She glanced around the empty station and flicked her large eyes over Lewis's silent tormentor in the cell.

"him, I'm here to take him out of here" she nearly purred at him, giving him a flirtatious smile which made him swallow against the sudden dryness in his throat, but he couldn't just release a prisoner into her custody because she was beautiful, tempting as it was.

Officer Lewis began explaining the reality of what would be needed in the situation, and barely noticed another person enter his station, but Sherlock was still on high alert and he did.

The man paused long enough to watch Jackie wrap the desk sergeant around her finger, then smirked and walked to the other side of cell bars. Sherlock locked eyes with the man and quickly took in every detail he could about him, from his pale blue eyes boring into him, to the enviably muscled arms crossed over his chest while he stared Sherlock down successfully, to the shaved head and eyeball ring on his finger. Sherlock felt panic rise in his chest that this man was sent there by Mickey for him, why else was a guy like that standing there staring at him?!

"Can I help you?" Sherlock asked combatively, if this guy thought he was going to have an easy time taking Sherlock out of there and back to Mickey, he had another thing coming!

The smirk that this earned Sherlock was infuriating, whoever this guy was – it would take a lot more than Sherlock's usual shtick to intimidate him.

"Doesn't look like you can do much of anything right about now kid, especially help me" the guy told him in a tone near laughter which seriously pissed the already on edge Sherlock, off.

"Then why don't you fuck off?" Sherlock asked brightly, and turned his focus back to Jackie doing her damndest to spring him before it was too late. Watching her work her magic was starting to give Sherlock a small glimmer of hope that she really could get him out of there and away from the fate that was terrifying him.

"Angry aren't you?" the guy smirked, he seemed to find Sherlock's trouble amusing, and he didn't appreciate it frankly.

"Look dude, I know why you're here and if you think for a second that I'm going to go with you quietly then you're dumber then you look, you low life fuck" Sherlock growled defiantly

This declaration earned Sherlock a raised eyebrow, but otherwise the guy seemed unphased and simply stared back at Sherlock with an ease Sherlock couldn't match, his panic was about to break to the surface when Jackie yelled over towards them.

"puddin' bring the money!" she called out while fluttering her eyelashes at the spellbound desk sergeant.

Sherlock's mouth dropped open as realization dawned on him, whoever the hell 'puddin'' was nodded his head with a smugness that would have pissed him off if he hadn't been so stunned.

"be right there doll" he called back over his shoulder to Jackie before giving Sherlock a parting salute and letting a laugh slip out at the look on the teenagers face.

With a groan Sherlock slumped against the graffiti wall behind him, Jackie was engaged when he'd met her and only then did Sherlock make the connection that that was surely who had been taking a look at him, embarrassing didn't really cover how Sherlock now viewed the recent encounter. He had plenty of time to worry about how stupid he'd come across to Jackie's fiancé – or husband, he didn't really know? While Jackie finished filing out the paper work that would get him out of there. He also began to suspect that Jackie's…dude? – knew he was feeling this way, because every once in a while - whatever he was - would look Sherlock's way and give him that maddening smirk!

Sherlock was brooding about looking like a helpless fool when Jackie's voice got his attention; he blinked in confusion at her expectant expression until she repeated what she'd said.

"What's your real name?" she asked briskly, she needed it for whatever form she'd come to he realized

"uh, Sean Holmes" he admitted with some hesitation, it had been a long time since he'd said that name out loud, he was slightly surprised that he remembered it at all.

Jackie nodded quickly, and went back to scribbling on the forms, officer Lewis watched her clearly smitten with the beautiful brunette, not that he cared but Sherlock wondered if the desk sergeant was going to get in trouble for getting played so skillfully by his pint sized savior? He watched Jackie brush crumbs off the guys tie and shoot him a winsome smile, making the officer blush, Sherlock saw that he wasn't the only one who didn't give a crap if he got in trouble for giving Jackie her way – officer Lewis probably would have given her copies of the cell keys at that point if she'd asked him.

"and that's not her at full force" a voice told him from such close proximity that he jumped, Sherlock looked back at the man Jackie had brought along and tried to read him again but failed as quickly as he had the first time around.

"Who are you?" Sherlock asked less aggressively than before.

"well, well, look who's trying to be polite now?" he said with yet another smirk, making Sherlock wonder how no one had ever tried to throttle this infuriating man?!

"whatever" Sherlock mumbled and cast his eyes to the cell floor, then promptly moved them to his boots which did not have a disturbing white stain on them of mysterious origin.

"Wow, sitting there with your arms crossed, looking pissed off saying 'whatever', it really brings me back to my youth" he told Sherlock in a sage voice.

"Your youth? What are you like 20?" Sherlock snorted, still glaring at his boots.

"22 mister, and I wouldn't take that attitude if I were you" Jackie's guy told him seriously "see, I myself don't like you much, you're trying a little too hard to seem tough and unaffected and that reminds me of…me – well the old me anyway, and I wasn't too fond of the old me and I'm not sure I want to be around the old me again, you follow me?"

"Not really, seeing as I still don't know who you are?" Sherlock pointed out blankly

A hand reached through the bars for Sherlock to shake, which he did after hesitating a moment, which turned out to be wise as the handshake was crushing and it was all he could do not to cry out.

"Names Hyde" the smirking man told him

"Men and their tough nicknames" Sherlock muttered as he remembered something Jackie had said when he'd first talked with her. "So your Jackie's fiancé?" he said even though he'd already figured out he was with Jackie.

"Husband now" Hyde told him with a look that transcended smug; Sherlock didn't know the word for it if there even was one?

"No offense but I would've thought she could do better" Sherlock said dryly

"Well yes and no, I'm not really good enough for her but at the same time there isn't anyone that is" Hyde told him honestly

"You're awfully humble for a guy who seems so smug" Sherlock noted

The infuriating smirk made another appearance "nah, I'm not humble – I'm just not delusional, Jackie's badass and I'm lucky she ever threw a glance my way let alone married me. But all that aside, you and I both know that the trouble your in is very real and very serious, now I don't know what it is yet but I do know that if you lie to us or try to keep important stuff back because of your pride or the code? It's not me that's going to suffer; it's you and its Jackie. So when she asks you what the deal is my advice is to be honest and don't hold shit back, because not only is it going to be a lot easier on you if you just level with her straight away – but it's all the hope you have right now" Hyde told him with a gravity that made Sherlock listen closely.

"You make it sound easy, but you don't know man" Sherlock told him darkly.

"you want to bet?" Hyde challenged flatly, and when Sherlock finally forced himself to meet Hyde's gaze he saw it – Hyde knew and nothing Sherlock could say would fool him.

They were still staring at each other when Officer Lewis came over and unlocked the cell door; Jackie was right behind him giving Sherlock a stern look.

"time to go" she told him and Hyde before turning to officer Lewis and thanking him profusely for his help while Hyde hustled Sherlock out of the station before either someone figured out what was going on or Lewis came to his senses.

They'd made it half way down the block towards the car when Sherlock stopped short and began shaking uncontrollably, Jackie turned to look questioningly at him then followed his line of sight, down the street coming their way was a man and woman who's appearance screamed 'drug addict'. It was in the way they moved, the blemishes on their skin, the general unkempt look about them, and Jackie was sure it was Sherlock's mom and dad.

"get him to the car jacks" Sherlock heard Hyde hiss quickly to Jackie, just before she grabbed his arm with surprising strength and hauled his immobile form towards a black el Camino, Sherlock stumbled after her but looked back to see why Hyde wasn't coming with them?

He was leaning casually against a light post as his mom and step dad seemed to realize who Sherlock was, to be fair it had been awhile since they seen him. Jackie forced him into the back of the car just as he Hyde placed one hand on his step dad's chest to stop them from going any further.

"What's he going to do?" he asked Jackie curiously, the usually shrewd teen honestly had no idea what to make of Hyde yet?

"I'm not sure, but I know whatever it is will work" Jackie assured him with a quiet confidence that would have put most people at ease, but didn't do much to calm Sherlock in the situation they found themselves currently in.

Sherlock stared at the scene of his mother trying to push past Jackie's husband, only for Hyde to reach in his pocket and withdraw a roll of cash, he could see the hungry look in his parent's eyes when they saw the money and Hyde saw it too. With one fluid movement Hyde arched his arm and the roll of 20's flew across the street and landed in the grass on the other side, it took less than 20 seconds for them to abandon their purpose to chase after the money, narrowly avoiding the oncoming traffic in their pursuit. With impressive speed Hyde reached the car and threw it in gear, they were on the interstate within minutes and Sherlock could breathe again

The drive back to Berkeley was quiet, Jackie occasionally said something in a soft voice to Hyde but that was about it. It wasn't a long drive and before Sherlock was really ready to spill his guts to them, they were seated at a small table in their kitchen waiting expectantly for him to begin. He couldn't start because he just didn't know how? It went against everything he knew to tell them his private business and it was humiliating to admit the truth about what had made him leave back then. Finally it was Hyde who broke the silence.

"jacks give us a minute ok?" he asked softly, Jackie gave her husband a look that Sherlock couldn't read but knew was meaningful none the less, "its fine doll don't worry" Hyde assured her, somehow that was enough for Jackie and she left them in the privacy of the kitchen and went to take a shower to rid herself of the police station smell.

Hyde leaned back in his chair and observed Sherlock for a moment before beginning to speak "my mom wasn't much different than what I saw of yours, she was a drunk first and foremost, but that isn't to say it stopped at booze by any means, when I was a kid – and I'm talking like 6 – she taught me how to steal bottles from the liquor store for her, or cigarettes from the market. Whenever I got caught – and it was often early on – she would show up and scream at me for being a filthy thief in front of the shop keep or whatever, then take me home by the ear and slap me for not getting what I was supposed to. The older I got the worse it got, the shit she made me do and the penalty if I didn't do it. I'm not going to go into the details because I just don't want to, but know that whatever happened to you I won't be taken off guard, I'm telling you this for one reason and it's not so you feel more comfortable telling us the truth – that's happening with or without your personal comfort – I'm telling you because I want you to understand that I know what I'm talking about when I say, the code of not narking on your own family is void the minute they use you for something fucked up."

Sherlock stared at Hyde, "how'd you get out?" he asked the older man curiously.

"Red" Hyde replied simply

"Red? A color got you away from your fucked up mom?" Sherlock asked disbelievingly

There was that smirk again "Red is a person, he was my best friends dad and when my loser mother bailed on me he took me in, and he never let me start thinking all I could hope to be was like her, no matter how many times I fucked up he kept at me, and now I'm the impressive man you see today" Hyde said with a small laugh.

"Where do I start?" Sherlock sighed

"the beginning, but you better start when jacks gets back, because she will make you start over and something tells me it'll be hard enough for you once" Hyde told him bluntly.

When Jackie joined them again, Sherlock took a deep breath and began to speak, haltingly at first but when he wasn't met with a bad reaction he found the courage to tell them the whole truth

"My mom had a problem with heroin – might still have it for all I know? – and when she got in too deep with her dealer she traded him the only thing she could to make up what she owed – me" after the hardest part was out Sherlock had an easier time telling them of his past. Jackie did him the courtesy of not crying while he talked, even though it took all her self-control to do so.

Hyde looked sickened, and a bit pissed he let the two who'd done such a disgusting thing pass without harming them, but he didn't look surprised which Jackie took notice of. When Sherlock was done talking no one said anything for a long while. The silence was finally broken by Sherlock, who couldn't handle wondering what their inevitable reaction was going to be?

"So will you help me get somewhere safe?" he asked Jackie directly

"you are somewhere safe Sherlock, Steven and I aren't going to let anyone get you, not those disgusting drug dealers and not your mother, I promise" she told him confidently then got up and went to the phone on the wall, they watched her as she began speaking to whoever she had called as it became clear that Jackie was calling in some sort of favor, but for what ends neither knew?

"If I stay here it puts both of you in danger, I know you know that" he said quietly to Hyde

"first of all kid, I've never been afraid of people like those guys you've been running from, and I'm not now, second of all, if someone hadn't taken a risk with me I'd be in a much worse place today and I owe it to them to return the favor, so do me a favor and drop the whole 'you need to go' thing? Because it isn't going to happen" Hyde informed him bluntly

"But what if they come here? What if they hurt Jackie?!" Sherlock tried to get Hyde to hear reason, he might be tough but these guys weren't exactly law abiding citizens and there was no telling what they would do when they got there, but he was sure they would come there. Jackie's name and information was on those forms and he was sure his mom had gotten a look at them when she'd gone in to find out what had happened it was only a matter of time before mickey and daffy showed up at their door demanding they hand over their 'property'. He didn't want to bring that horror down on Jackie and Hyde; he didn't want his pathetic existence to cause anyone pain or trouble.

Hyde looked over at Jackie who had hung up from her first call and was already dialing again, "hey it's me – I need you guys here – yeah probably" Jackie was still talking to whoever it was when Hyde addressed Sherlock again.

"You might want to prepare yourself, what's about to happen is going to be a bit of a shock for you" he cautioned the confused 15 year old.

Jackie rejoined them at the table with a businesslike look on her face "alright, for the time being I've been declared your guardian, so you are now in our care legally, it took some fast talking but I have a friend in the DA's office and the charges I brought against your parents were serious enough that they agreed to let you stay with me for now while they're under investigation – don't give me that look! Did you honestly think after finding out they make a habit of exploiting children id let it pass?!" she cried indignantly when she saw the aghast look on Sherlock's face.

"Is that all?" Hyde asked casually, he had meant it when he said he didn't fear the people that haunted Sherlock.

"no, officer Lewis told me that Sherlock's mom came in and demanded to know where he'd gone after they called her, he couldn't keep it from her without raising suspicions that I wouldn't want raised for him. From what she was muttering to her sleazy husband it sounded to him like she was going to tell these cartoon drug dealers where they could find Sherlock so that she wasn't on the hook for the deal anymore, with that in consideration I took some steps" she told them with a shrug then crossed her legs and absently played with her hair, Hyde took her statement calmly he seemed to have a good idea of what these 'steps' she spoke of were, only Sherlock was left in the dark.

"Jackie, you do realize that these guys aren't some pot dealing hippie's right? They are warped and vicious and will not stop until they have what they want, whatever steps you took aren't going to be enough!" he tried to make her understand the danger she faced, he did not want her coming to harm especially because of him.

"Sherlock, I need you to stop freaking out and to understand that you are not in this alone" she told him in a low intense voice, and reached out to squeeze his hand comfortingly.

He didn't know what to say? But was saved having to figure it out by a knock at the door, which made him jump and look around in a panic.

"Chill kid, they won't be here until tomorrow at the earliest" Hyde promised him, and then went to answer the door.

Sherlock watched as Kingsley entered the little house looking grim, following behind her was the rest of Rockwall Flood, their faces just as serious as Kings.

"Where's Mad?" Hyde asked the massive drummer; suddenly Sherlock was curious if he was where they got the term 'Rockwall' from? He certainly fit the bill he thought to himself.

"He's at Kings Grandmothers tonight already, good thing too" Connor replied grimly

"What the hell is going on here?!" Sherlock cried out getting worked up at how insane they were being, they couldn't risk themselves for him it was ludicrous!

Kick strode forward with a confident grin on his face and threw an arm around Sherlock's shoulders "Jackie told us she and Hyde took you in, which makes you honorary family and we don't let piece of shit dirt bags touch our family" kick told him enthusiastically, even going so far as to shake him by the shoulders.

Hyde grinned at Sherlock's startled face "welcome to the family Sherlock" he said with the smirk that was starting to be reassuring.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N hello again, I know I've been absent for a bit and I am sorry, part of that was losing track of where I was going in this, and also I write on my days off and I didn't get a chance recently, so again I'm sorry, but I'm back now and even though this chapter might suck because I'm going to just push through and hope it works out, there's a small chance it might not so - here's hoping!

Although a part of him was awed by Hyde's declaration that he was now a part of their peculiar family, Sherlock was too terrified of who was on their way to claim him to process what Hyde's words truly meant. Sherlock had lived in tremendous fear of this very thing happening for so long that now that it was really there (he'd always known it would someday) his natural reaction was to slip into a full blown panic. His chest got tight and as his heart pounded painfully against it, the tightness moved up to the base of his skull, he didn't realize he was struggling for breath until a sharp female voice called for him to breathe!

Without him really knowing what was happening a pair of small hands were pushing him into a chair, and a soft voice spoke gently to him, soothing the panic still gripping him, while also barking sharply at the rest to leave the room! He wasn't sure what the words were that Jackie was saying, but after a while Sherlock's eyes focused again and he could pull in an actual breath, his heart was still beating at a painful rate but it slowed with each shaky breath he pulled into his lungs.

Jackie watched the young man fall into a full blown panic attack and was reminded suddenly of similar incidents long ago with Hyde, Steven had sworn her to secrecy back then and she was fairly sure that still held, but she had watched the strongest man she knew (beside Mr. Forman) suffer the same thing she was now trying to help Sherlock through. It was funny to think that she had always been seen as the overly emotional one (and that wasn't exactly untrue) but Steven had had his own issues, most of which stemmed from the sickening abandonment he'd suffered from Edna and then Bud and then both of them.

The first time she'd been present when he'd had one of these episodes they hadn't been together – they hadn't even been friends, it had happened in the dark days of Kelso.

Jackie had been in the basement waiting for Kelso or Donna to show up, with nothing else to do she was lounging on the old tattered couch listening to the TV and flipping through a magazine while letting out the occasional bored sigh. She'd just checked her watch for the 27th time and muttered something about 'useless stupid Kelso's who probably couldn't read a watch if they even had one!' when Hyde had stormed in looking angrier then Jackie had ever seen him.

Without registering Jackie's presence he began to pace around the concrete room, muttering and running an agitated hand through his curly hair, Jackie was too afraid to say anything, not only did she not understand what was happening but Hyde was the one of Michaels friends that she was least comfortable around. For some reason whenever she talked to Hyde her nervousness took over and she turned into the absolute worst version of herself, but could you blame her? Hyde refused to be friendly with her or even really notice her for that matter, if she wasn't loud and commanding it was like she didn't exist to him, but this time he wasn't ignoring her, he was too wrapped up in whatever was happening with him to realize she was there.

Jackie had no idea what to do? She couldn't slip away unseen and she was too afraid of him while he was like this to say anything to him. But the choice was taken away from her when out of nowhere Hyde screamed "Fuck!" and hurled the crate of records across the room, Jackie let out a frightened yelp which brought Hyde's ice blue eyes onto her.

"Why are you here?! I'm always fucking alone, but the one damn time I want to be alone your goddamn here!" he shouted furiously while gesturing wildly around them, Jackie prayed the Forman's were home and would come down to see what the racket was? But the upstairs was dead quiet.

"i-I'm sorry Hyde, I'll go" Jackie stammered out, unaware she had begun shaking.

"Yeah you'll go! Everyone around me fucking goes! Can't give a shit about Hyde oh no! Anything's better than me, pick booze! Pick Forman! Pick skanks at the hub! Anything but me right?!" he screamed but not really at Jackie, in fact the more worked up he got the less sense his yelling made, until it stopped all together and Jackie found the courage to peek at him from behind her hands (which had been shielding her face during his rant) and saw something she never would have expected in a million years – Hyde crouched on the dirty floor of the basement clutching his hair tightly with his chest heaving.

"Steven!" Jackie cried unconsciously, and rushed to his side.

She didn't know what was happening, but she knew he couldn't seem to breathe and even she knew that was serious. She tried shaking him to get a response but he just shook her off, nearly knocking her over but she didn't take it personally, and she didn't let it stop her either. Hyde may not want her help, but he needed it just then and Jackie wasn't near as selfish as she acted.

Getting back up without a thought to her jeans being dirty from the floor, Jackie carefully approached Hyde again and saw that his face was red from lack of oxygen, very worried now Jackie began to speak in a voice no one who knew her had ever heard, it was low and soft and comforting, her tiny hand went to Hyde's tense back where it began to rub soothing circles across the fabric of his t-shirt. When that was ineffective Jackie wasn't detoured, she had no idea why she was so worried about Hyde of all people? But she was and she was not one to sit idly by when she was needed – she liked feeling needed, but more than that she knew that just because Hyde didn't care about her didn't mean she felt the same way.

Jackie took a stealing breath and sat down directly in front of Hyde who was gritting his teeth and rocking back and forth, with strength unexpected in someone so small she pried his hands out of his hair and forced his head up enough that she could press her forehead against his, and then she began to speak.

"Steven I need you to breath" she began in the same soothing tone "I'm here, I'm not leaving, there's nothing you could do that will make me leave you, I don't care what you say or do – I – am- here" she told him gently while running her fingers through his hair – something she knew calmed her – "breathe Steven, after one I promise the next will be easier" she moved her hands from his hair to his chest where she could feel how fast his heart beat was, even more worried now (for all she knew he could have a heart attack) Jackie pulled his hand up and pressed his palm against her own heart, hoping the steady rhythm would assure him he wasn't alone.

"I'm here with you Steven, I promise I want to be here" she murmured,

With no idea what she should be doing, Jackie acted without considering the implications and scooted forward until she was almost in his lap. She wound her arms around his neck and hugged him tight; unthinkingly she kissed his cheek and murmured into his ear over and over that she was there with him because she knew that personally she wished someone would tell her that. All of a sudden Hyde's arms latched around her and crushed her to his chest which was now shaking with silent tears, she could feel them soaking her shirt where his face was buried against her shoulder but she didn't care, she just held on tighter saying again and again that she wouldn't leave.

When she felt him finally pull in one deep shuddering breath she redoubled her efforts, reaffirming she wasn't going anywhere while she rubbed his neck and intermittently kissed his cheek. When his breathing steadied and his heart beat slowed, Jackie felt him try to pull away – likely because he'd realized what had happened and what was happening and was now pissed and embarrassed, but Jackie refused to be pushed away and the whole thing ignored, if he wanted her off of him he'd have to hurt her, that wasn't going to happen and he knew it as well as she did.

"Jackie you need to get off of me and forget any of this every happened" he muttered gruffly from embarrassment.

"Yeah that isn't happening Steven" Jackie informed him softly "tell me what happened that caused this?" she asked of him with genuine concern.

"nothing happened, now get the hell off of me!" he growled uncomfortably, whether his discomfort came from Jackie seeing him that way, or because there was a girl sitting in his lap was up for debate, but he desperately wanted to get away from her, if only she would let go of him!

But Jackie didn't let go, instead she somehow forced him to look at her, his blue eyes locked on her mismatched ones defiantly, he was sure he would see pity or the superior look she was so known for, but his eyes softened when all he saw was concern – concern for him?

"You can trust me Steven, tell me what happened?" Jackie asked again barely above a whisper

Hyde closed his eyes and sighed, in spite of himself he believed her and he had to admit he sort of owed her an explanation.

"If you laugh I'll let your ass hit the ground when I get up without feeling guilty" he warned her seriously

Jackie tilted her head curiously "why would I ever laugh at something bad enough to do that to you?" she asked sounding hurt he would think that after what had just happened.

Hyde looked away from her gaze feeling ashamed of what he'd said "just….don't laugh ok?" he asked quietly

"I won't" Jackie promised and settled her head on his shoulder while she waited for him to start.

"the whole day was just bad from the start, I got up to no damn food in the house again and my mom half-drunk from the night before, or half way to being drunk – it's hard to tell, who cheerfully informed me she'd sold my record collection the day before because – and this is a quote – I owed her for taking care of me, and it was about time I contributed something instead of just mooching off her!" he spit the words out with an anger Jackie wished she didn't understand as well as she did, his arms had also unconsciously tightened around her again, but she wasn't about to point it out.

"I'm sorry Steven, that's terrible and your mother is too" Jackie told him honestly.

"Yeah, well it wasn't a big surprise, actually, it's not the first time she's sold my stuff even, but it pissed me off that I was going to have to find a way to replace them again. but the whole day kept going down the crapper, the teachers were on my case in every class, Kelso ditched giving me a ride home to-….cus he's a dumbass and forgot" Hyde faltered a bit on that one, but Jackie chose to ignore it and urged him to continue.

"I had to walk all the way to the hub in the rain, and when I finally got there I had to fucking count out pennies to get something to eat! It was fucking humiliating man! But I was starving so I sucked it up, while I was doing that in front of everyone while they snickered at me and called me names they thought I couldn't hear, I heard something else" here Hyde paused and took a deep breath, Jackie was pretty sure what was coming next was what set off his breakdown.

"I won't laugh Steven, I promise" Jackie assured him to ensure he got it all out, like she did to her stuffed animals, it occurred to her that he might not be as embarrassed just then if she shared that particular tidbit with him.

"You haven't so far so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt" he said with a sigh

"What did you hear?" she prompted him gently

"Forman and donna, their backs were to me so they didn't know I was there, if they known I was there I don't think they would have been talking about me" he gritted out from between clenched teeth, his grip on Jackie had tightened almost painfully as his anger returned, but Jackie just kept running her fingers soothingly through his hair while her other arm held him tight, after a moment his grip relaxed and he continued.

"I heard Forman tell her that we both liked her – id be pissed he broke the code but I have too so were even – and he asked her if she wanted me? He said that if she did he understood because she and I have always been close friends and he knows I'm cooler than him and all that, and I was just thinking that I guess it isn't true you never over hear nice things about yourself when donna cut him off, she told him that even though she wasn't sure what she felt about him she was sure she didn't like me!" he growled angrily

"I'm sorry Steven, I know it hurts when someone you like doesn't like you back" Jackie commiserated, but Hyde shook his head.

"she didn't stop there jacks, she said I was a low life she felt sorry for and hung around hoping she could be a good influence on me, laughed about me liking her because I was obviously the kind of guy that would knock up a girl in high school and end up in a trailer park and that she wanted better out of life then a guy who probably wouldn't graduate! I mean, I know a lot of what she was saying was just to egg Forman on and shit, but it still hurt ya know?" he admitted awkwardly

Jackie was amazed that he was sitting there trying to convince himself his friend hadn't meant all of what she'd said about him, but Jackie knew bitch when she heard it and it would be a long time before she let donna off the hook for her words. But if Steven wanted to pretend it wasn't the truth of how Donna felt Jackie wasn't going to say anything, sometimes the version of a person you've created is all you have; Jackie knew this better than most, just look at Michael.

"It's still not ok Steven, you didn't deserve that" Jackie told him softly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes after that, Hyde hadn't known what to say and wasn't sure how to look Jackie in the face after all that had happened that day? In the end he didn't have much of a choice.

"Jacks you gotta get up, my legs are asleep" he finally told her after trying to ignore the discomfort for quite a while.

He felt Jackie chuckle softly against his chest before letting go of his neck and scooting away from him, allowing the blood to rush back into his legs. Hyde got up and tried to get the blood flowing again when he saw the damage he'd done when he lost it. Forman's own record collection was strewn across the basement and had knocked over a few things in their path. Hyde set about repairing the evidence of his losing his cool, while also trying to ignore how different things were between he and Jackie after what had just happened. He cringed when he imagined her running her mouth all over town telling people what she'd seen him reduced to.

"Listen Jackie, you got to promise me you won't tell anyone at all about this ok? Not what you saw, not what I said, none of it" he said adamantly.

Jackie walked over and helped him pick up the albums littering the floor, she set them back in their crate before looking up at Hyde with a serious expression "I know I'm a bitch and everything Steven, but I would never betray you, you need to understand that. What happened today isn't anybody's business, not even mine, you may hate me but you can trust me" she told him with a sad little smile.

"I don't hate you jacks – never have, you get on my nerves sometimes but were still friends" Hyde admitted and gave her a small smile.

"Were friends?" Jackie asked looking shocked and awed by what he said.

"Yes ok! Don't bandy it about though, the repercussions would be loud and long lasting" he pointed out with a grimace to how their group behaved when even the slightest thing didn't go their way.

Jackie could only nod in agreement, if she were to act like a friend to Steven in front of any of the others it would be the topic of discussion for months, even though she was starting to think he might be worth that much annoyance and more she wasn't sure she was strong enough to deal with it.

"oh man, look at Forman's pink Floyd record" Hyde said sadly and picked up the black vinyl disc along with the large chunk that had been broken off of it "how am I going explain this?" he asked Jackie at a loss.

"Maybe we can glue it back together?" Jackie suggested hopefully

"Doesn't work and even if it did he'd still notice the glue" Hyde explained patiently, the mocking tone he'd usually take with Jackie was gone for now.

"Don't worry about it Steven, I'll take care of it" Jackie assured him

"Take care of what?" Forman asked suspiciously as he entered the basement having only heard the last thing Jackie had said.

"This record of yours I broke" Jackie said with a bored shrug, holding up the destroyed pink Floyd record for him to see.

Forman gasped and snatched the precious album from her hands "Jackie! How did this happen?" he demanded looking back and forth between them.

Jackie rolled her eyes theatrically as the others filed into the basement and watched Forman glaring at Jackie with the broken record held aloft for all to see.

"Ugh, it wasn't my fault! If your basement wasn't so boring I wouldn't have bet Hyde I could Frisbee one of your records across the room and knock down that stuffed cat with it! So really, it's your own fault" Jackie told him loftily, then glanced at Hyde and noticed that he clearly looked like he'd been crying and didn't have his shades with him, thinking on her feet Jackie pointed an accusing finger at him before anyone noticed his face.

"Which I did! So you - Mr. Doubter – owe me dinner!" she informed him loudly and dragged him from the basement before anyone had time to respond.

"what about my record?!" Forman finally thought to yell up the steps behind her, a moment later quick steps echoed down the concrete staircase and Jackie appeared again looking impatient, she reached into her purse and tossed a handful of money at him before spinning on her heal and leaving again with a slam of the door this time.

Hyde stood by her Lincoln stunned and grateful for all she'd done for him that day, when she returned looking ready to leave. She was passing by him in a rush to get out of there when he caught her by the arm and spun her into a hug.

"Thanks jacks, for everything" he said quietly

"Anytime Steven" she replied hugging him back "let's get out of here and get something to eat, I'm starving" she said with a smile he could get used to.

"Uh, jacks? I know I owe you big time, but I can't actually buy you dinner" he reminded her of his previously stated financial situation.

Jackie rolled her eyes for real this time "I'm not stupid Steven; I remember things said to me for more than an hour! I'm taking you to a restaurant I like in the next town, we could both use a good relaxing meal without anyone bothering us, so get in the car!" she ordered imperiously.

Hyde smiled and did as she said, neither of them noticed Mrs. Forman watching the whole thing from the kitchen where she'd been putting away groceries when they came up, she smiled and mimed tuning a key on her mouth and dropping it into her pocket, before bustling to finish her task.

A lot of what Jackie had done back then to calm Steven was not an option with Sherlock; pretty much all of it was off the table. Except for talking to him soothingly, while forcing his eyes to meet hers.

"I'm here Sherlock, I'm here and I'm not leaving you, you are here because you are wanted. We will protect you from any and everyone who tries to hurt you, we care about you, you can trust us" as Jackie continued speaking in her low soothing tone to him, Sherlock finally managed to take a much needed breath, after the first one the next was easier.

A/N well hope you all liked this one, until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N sorry I've been absent, it's been incredibly lame at work lately and I've been too tired and pissed off to do anything. also, I tried to catch up on one of my other stories, but I'm back now and I hope this next installment of Locks continuing journey is enjoyable for all.

Sherlock felt acutely embarrassed for his breakdown and glanced around as the others filed back into the room with Jackie's permission, none of them seemed to think he'd acted badly in fact none of them seemed to think much of it at all – which was how he liked it. Jackie switched her focus from him to her friends again, but kept her hand protectively on his shoulder while she spoke to them.

"how should we play this one?" she asked them as a whole

A few looks passed between them but in the end it was King who spoke.

"we don't know when these two dip shits are going to show up, could be tomorrow could be next week, I shudder to think how they prioritize their time. All we know is that at some point they're going to show up claiming Sherlock is theirs, and as we've all agreed we will strongly dispute that claim. Now, we don't have a lot of options available but were not totally screwed either, it comes down to basically two choices – we work out a convoluted system to be here as a united front when they eventually show up and teach them the true meaning of pain, or we head them off and make sure they never lay a finger on Sherlock or any other kid for that matter." She laid it out for them evenly, not seeming to have an opinion on either choice, Sherlock was sure this was not the case however.

The teenage boy with the green shaggy Mohawk looked around at the faces of the adults going to so much trouble for him, he hated that he'd caused them trouble, he hated that he was the source of these kind people having to deal with the filth he'd dragged along with him. And he was about to speak up and say all this when he felt a soft tap on the back of his head? He looked up to see Jackie giving him a stern look.

"if we didn't want to deal with this we wouldn't! now stop thinking all the crap you've been thinking about how you're not worth the trouble you've brought and deal with the reality that we care and want to help" she ordered imperiously, when she noticed the look on his face she gave a very similar smirk to her husband and said "yes I can totally read your mind, I've spent half my life with him!" she said pointing to Hyde "and I can HEAR when you lot start getting down on yourselves in your own heads, so keep that in mind when you want to start convincing yourself you should bail for my own good, because mark my words Sherlock – I will find you wherever you run off to and bring you back! I choose who I care about and once I make that decision I don't shy away from the hard parts, and I care about you! So deal with it!" she shouted forcefully.

Sherlock could only stare at the tiny woman who commanded such staggering power over those around her, apart from the occasional blink he didn't know what to do?

"jacks honey, as much as I love watching you put the smack down on someone who isn't me – and I do, we'll have plenty of time to make him see were not going to turn on him, seeing as how were his guardians now, so for the time being let's focus on what we're going to do about these sleaze bags Mickey and Daffy" Hyde gently told his wife.

"what did you say?" Max snapped suddenly, looking intently at Hyde.

"that I enjoy watching her order people who aren't me around?" Hyde said blankly

"yeah, no I don't care about that" Max told him bluntly "what did you call the guys you called us about?" he said seriously

Hyde raised curious eyebrow but knew his friend well enough to simply answer the question and not ask any of his own – of which there were a few considering the look on Max's face

"uh, Mickey and Daffy, some drug dealer scum who uses cartoon names for some reason" he answered as best he could.

All eyes – including Sherlocks – were trained on the rockabilly rebel who was looking quietly dangerous as he turned purposefully towards his friends "you, you and you come with me" he ordered briskly and turned for the door, Hyde Connor and Kick shared a look and a shrug and followed Max towards the door, when Kings voice stopped them.

"Max" she said simply, but those that knew them understood the weight a single word from King to Max carried,

He turned to her and gave her a dark look "I'll explain later" he told her quietly

"or now, let's go with now" King said with her hands on her hips, if he thought that he was walking out the door with the bulk of people that she cared about without a word of explanation he had another damn thing coming!

Sherlock felt Jackie's grip tighten on his shoulder as she watched the unlikely face off, he didn't know these people but even he could sense that this was not a normal clash of wills, and watched curiously as the bass player gave King a strange look.

"I'm using a marker Kingsley" he said to the confusion of everyone but King, who's defiant stance dissolved and a look of acceptance came over her face.

"you all come back to me in one piece or I will be very difficult to deal with for a very long time" she told him ominously, Max smiled slightly and took a step towards his friend, when he reached her he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and looked into her blue eyes

"that's not new King" he informed her with a grin and walked out the door, Kick Hyde and Connor on his heels, moments later they heard an engine rev moments before pulling away from the house and driving away.

"what the hell are they doing?" Sherlock asked the two women remaining in his company

"something stupid dangerous and potentially fatal" King muttered irritably "and I should be with them!" she shouted the last part with emotion that surprised Sherlock, she seemed mad not that they'd left to parts unknown to do something dangerous, but that they hadn't taken her along!

"King, they'll be fine and I'm glad you stayed here with us" Jackie pointed out calmly

"how can you say that? How can you be so calm? They just ran straight into a crazy dangerous situation where they don't know what the hell they're going to run into when they get there, and you're just sitting there like they went to the store!"

It wasn't King that yelled all this, but Sherlock.

He simply couldn't comprehend how they all thought this was a good idea, taking him in, standing up to Mickey, any of it! And Jackie's calm trusting demeanor was driving him crazy. Did she not see that he was poison? That she and her friends would be better off if she'd never met him?

"Sherlock, knock it off, I'm not kidding, I know you're under a lot of stress right now, but you have to make up your mind right now. You either trust us or you don't, there's no swaying back and forth here, make a choice and we will respect it even if we don't like it. Look at me" Jackie asked softly, and Sherlock found himself obeying, he raised his head to meet her questioning gaze and saw that she meant it – he had to choose.

He glanced at King and saw that she had reached a similar state of acceptance at their departure that Jackie had, she was staring out the window down the street lost in thought – she was not going to offer her sage if somewhat blunt advice this time, he was on his own with this. Did he honestly believe that Jackie and Hyde and their mismatched family cared about him just because? Or did he think they had an agenda like so many others?

"I trust you" he finally murmured to her grudgingly, if they did in fact have ulterior motives he couldn't imagine what they were, in the absence of a logical explanation the illogical one must be true – they cared about him.

"good, now that that's out of the way" Jackie said matter of factly, then turned her attention to King who was still staring out the bay window "Kingsley, would you mind letting me in on why Max reacted that way? And don't for a second think of trying to down play it, I know you know, and seeing as how he absconded with my husband – its share time" Jackie stated firmly

Sherlock watched King look up at her tiny friend and roll her eyes "I may have some idea of why Max reacted as he did" she allowed slowly "I also may have made a few educated guesses as to how it all connects, but Max and I have an agreement that we don't share the others secrets without permission" she began explaining seriously until Jackie cut her off with an impatient sound

"yeah, yeah, yeah you and he have a code – I don't care! We're here telling Sherlock he can trust us and be honest, so set a damn example Kingsley and lay it out for us, no more alluding to things, no hints, just lay it on the line and we'll make of it what we will" Jackie told King with a wave of her arm.

Sherlock glanced at the black-haired woman with the piercing blue eyes and saw a flash of pride for Jackie pass through them.

"Max spent some time in so cal when he was younger, his dad kicked him out when he found him with his boyfriend, so he ran away and made some friends down there. He moved from LA to Venice beach to long beach to Huntington – you name it he stayed there for a while. Anyhow, he got caught up in a bad scene and from what I heard he got pretty messed up and who knows what would have happened if his mom hadn't kicked his old man out and begged him to come home. I mean, they didn't get along either – still don't – but she loves him and wanted him safe even if she categorically disagreed with all he is. now the educated guess part is that, while he was down there fucked up on god knows what, he crossed paths with these guys who are after Sherlock – which would explain him of all people losing his cool when he heard their names, he knows who they are and where to find them and they are currently on their way there to show them the error of their ways." She laid it out just like Jackie had asked her to, and Sherlock was stunned that Max likely knew the ones that hunted him.

Jackie accepted what she'd been told calmly and let the matter drop, she saw right away that what King guessed was probably accurate. She trusted all four of them to be careful and do the right thing, or their own interpretation of the right thing at any rate, sometimes the right thing and the legal thing are far, far apart.

The three that remained in the living room lapsed into silence and against his intentions, Sherlock fell asleep on the Hyde's purple couch.

When he woke with a violent start later, he had no idea how long he'd slept? Or really where he was for that matter, Sherlock was half way up and searching for an exit when a soft quiet voice reached him.

"calm down Sherlock, you're safe, go back to sleep" Jackie told him from where she sat, curled in a chair staring out the front window of the living room, he knew she was watching for her family to return.

"how long have I been out?" he asked groggily rubbing his eyes and sitting up fully.

"a few hours, probably not enough all things considered, go back to sleep" she told him softly

"I'm not tired anymore" he shrugged and picked up a chair to sit by Jackie keeping vigil at the window "where's King?" he asked when it occurred to him her leaving while Jackie waited didn't make much sense from what he'd seen so far.

"there" Jackie said simply while pointing to a spot on the floor, Sherlock glanced over and saw King curled up on the rug with a blanket draped over her fast asleep.

"she seemed pissed they left" Sherlock probed gently, but curious as to the details of the people he'd ended up with.

Jackie smiled to herself while her eyes remained glued to the street outside.

"it was hard for her to stay behind, before Maddox was born she would have been the first one out the door, but she will never do anything that would risk Mad being on his own like all of them were. She loves her son, he's the most important thing in the world to her, but all of us are a close second and it tears her up to watch them walk out the door towards danger without her at their side." Jackie explained in a hushed voice not wanting to disturb the topic of conversation, and not just because King wouldn't like them discussing her, as cool as she appeared Jackie knew that King was worried to death about her family.

"but Connor went along, wouldn't he feel the same way?" Sherlock questioned curiously

"he went for the same reason King stayed I think, I think he heard what those two do to kids and then thought of his own son and someone trying to do that to him…. I don't envy those dealers facing Connor with that image in his brain. He's not known for his stunning emotional control where his family is concerned, and he considers the law open to interpretation" she grinned slightly at the thought

"and you're worried about Hyde, too aren't you?" Sherlock asked dryly

"not really" Jackie shrugged to Sherlocks surprise, she noticed his reaction and laughed slightly

"two years ago, I was convinced Steven was gone forever, everything I saw or heard drove that home, but I was wrong. It was at the darkest most hopeless point where he came back again, the strength it took him to turn himself around after how far he'd fallen still amazes me. If he could make it back to me through all of that, he'll have no problem coming back to me from whatever they're off doing"

The tone of her voice as she spoke about her husband shook Sherlock, the calm faith that this man he'd only just met would return unharmed wasn't something Sherlock could easily comprehend. He barely knew Hyde, but that tone in his new guardian's voice had him half believing the guy could do anything.

"why risk anything for me Jackie? No matter what you say it doesn't make sense, even if they make sure mickey and daffy never come after me again, even if they come back without a scratch on them, I'm too fucked up to just start living a normal life. What I'm saying is – this is not the only problem that comes along with me, I don't know how to deal with 'normal life' anymore" Sherlock tried to make her see in a rare moment of total honesty, he didn't want her making a decision without really knowing all the facts.

"Sherlock honey, I'm your legal guardian which basically makes me your mother, so I say this with love – shut up and go back to sleep, I'll be here when you wake back up" she told him pointedly

Sherlock laughed loudly and long at this statement.

"you would have given birth at like six years old" he told her through the laughter

"shush! I said sleep now" she said primly and went back to staring out the window.

"yeah shut it kid, for better or worse she's looking out for you now" King said from her corner where shed apparently been woken by their conversation at some point.

Sherlock laid back down on the couch and closed his eyes, the notion of Jackie being his mom now was ludicrous…. except it wasn't hard for him to think of her that way? In some ways, he was more grown up than any of them, but in others he was stalled out at eleven. He trusted Jackie and her opinion mattered to him and already he looked up to Hyde – whether he would admit it or not.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep again until a noise woke him up again, Sherlock half opened one eye and what he saw made him breathe a sigh of relief but he kept on pretending to be asleep, wanting to know what had happened and sure they wouldn't tell him all of it.

He watched as Hyde kneeled to greet Jackie, she touched the cut on Hyde's cheek and frowned with worry, but Hyde smirked confidently in reply – he'd done worse to the other guy was implied. Sherlock had to close his eye again when Hyde wrapped his arms around Jackie, it was too awkwardly romantic to witness.

He heard Connor call Kings name softly then a dull thud when she collided with his solid chest, the look of relief he saw on Kings face before she assumed her usual expression was disconcerting – the love there wasn't for others to see, it was private and only their own.

He must have done a good job feigning sleep because Max began telling Jackie and King what had happened.

They'd driven straight to Venice at speeds frowned upon by the police, max had contacted an old friend for information and after a few threats had the location of the guys hunting Sherlock. They were exactly who max had thought they were – two guys he'd known once upon a time who'd tried and failed to do some bad things to max – without a trace of fear for what the two men were capable of max stormed through the door to their place and let loose a fury the dealers wouldn't soon forget.

The other three with him did the same, and while the despicable men were screaming in pain and whimpering in remorse of their past misdeeds, Kick added insult to injury and called the police. It came as a surprise to no one that mickey and daffy had warrants out on them, and the police didn't have much trouble arresting the two broken sobbing men.

Sherlock watched as King glared darkly at Kick Max and Connor, who all seemed to think as Sherlock did that they were about to be read the riot act, but instead she sank to the ground and buried her face in her arms, her back shook with silent sobs and all three men fell all over themselves promising never to put her through such a thing again. The emotion he saw passing around was too much for Sherlock to handle, he wasn't used to it and didn't know how to process it.

The final straw for his composure was when Jackie approached and tucked the blanket around him more securely. That was the final thing, that was the moment he accepted it – they were his family now, and as much as he had tried to fight it he trusted them.

Of course, it was less than a month later that he freaked out and ran off, only for Hyde to appear out of nowhere while Sherlock was talking with two of his friends and told him curtly to get in the damn car, which he did.

Jackie was standing at the sink finishing the dishes when her husband and foster son entered the house, Hyde gripping the back of Sherlocks jacket as he led him towards the back door that led to the small yard.

"what's a man who runs out on his family called Sherlock?" she heard Hyde ask casually

"a wuss" Sherlock responded acceptingly

"and what do wusses get to do to make up for worrying their parents?" Hyde asked in the same conversational tone.

"apologize sincerely?" Sherlock guessed hopefully

"wrong pal, yard work. See this rake? This is your new best friend, and whenever you start to feel like I'm a total dick for making you do yard work for making jacks cry, feel free to tell it all about it." Hyde told him calmly

"am I grounded?" Sherlock asked sounding resigned

The bark of laughter Hyde let out make Sherlocks head snap up in confusion

"no, I'm not going to ground you for bailing, this isn't a prison Sherlock and were not here to punish you for doing the only thing you've really ever known – running. But you did scare Jackie, and since you were the one who upset her you're the one who's going to do something nice for her, namely cleaning up this disaster of a yard for two hours every time you upset her." Hyde explained Sherlocks new reality of cause and effect

"by any chance is this a project she's asked you to do that you don't want to?" Sherlock asked shrewdly

"that could very well be a part of it" Hyde admitted openly "but you still scared her with your stunt, so I'm delegating it to you" he smirked at the teenager who stared back in acceptance.

Jackie's yard was beautiful from that day forward.

Sherlock found that he enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that came with completing one of the needed tasks, as well as the look of happiness on his foster mother's face when she saw what he'd done. He still took off on occasion, but he always came home at night, Jackie and Hyde trusted him to return and he liked the feeling of being trusted, so he did.

One day he got home from school (Jackie had been firm on this point) only to find that he and Hyde had a new project.

Hyde was in the small room Jackie used as an office, but it had been cleared of all furniture?

"what'ch up to?" Sherlock asked curiously while he bit into an apple

Hyde looked up with the biggest grin Sherlock had ever seen on his face and responded with "you and I have a lot of work to do" he said cryptically

"we do? Why" Sherlock asked blankly

"because we only have around five months to make this room the best nursery we can" Hyde explained casually, then laughed as the understanding dawned on Sherlocks face.

"Jackie's….?" Sherlock couldn't bear to say it,

"yep, you're going to be a big brother" Hyde confirmed and gave Sherlock an excited one armed hug.

Sherlock tried to share the excitement, but all he could think was that with a baby around they wouldn't want to house a broken teenage guy any more, he sure as hell wouldn't want someone like him around a baby, just look at him?! Rough and rude and fucked up, that's what he had always been, for a moment he'd thought he could change but that was all over now.

Just as he was about to tell Hyde what he'd decided, Jackie flew into the room Hyde was preparing to paint, and went straight to Sherlock who she hugged tightly.

"did Steven tell you? We're going to have a baby! You're going to have a little brother of sister Sherlock, can you believe it?!" she asked happily, her smile one of pure joy. He couldn't bare being the one to take that smile from her.

"that's great Jackie, congratulations" he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster considering the tight feeling in his chest.

"come on, you're going to help me pick some baby things out at the store" she told him happily and dragged him by the hand towards the door.

"what about this room?" Hyde called after the woman absconding with his helper

"you smear the brush on the wall Steven! You can handle that on your own for a few hours" Jackie called over her shoulder while she led Sherlock towards her car.

Sherlock would have preferred staying to help Hyde, but knew better than to deny Jackie when she'd decided on something. So, he got in the passenger's seat and buckled his seatbelt before Jackie could remind him to.

"Jackie, I should wait in the car, I don't want the sales people to ignore you again" he said softly to remind her of the last shopping excursion they'd been on outside a grocery store, they'd gone looking for a birthday present for Hyde and while they'd separated slightly to look at different ends of a case of watches, security had shown up and asked Sherlock to leave. Suddenly he'd understood why no one was offering to help Jackie, and he felt a wave of shame hit him for causing it.

"if you recall Sherlock, I was victorious in that particular instance" she reminded him proudly of how she had dressed down the rude suspicious staff until the manager had offered her an apology and a discount.

"so, are you bringing me along to get a cheaper crib?" he asked, thinking that would at least make sense, wanting his company baby shopping did not.

"don't be ridiculous, I can get that on my own charm, I want you to help me choose some things because you're my kid and I want you to be involved with your new sibling" she said with a shrug, her total conviction on what she said calmed Sherlocks panic for the moment, and he dutifully helped pick out a crib that fit into Jackie's criteria of pretty but not too feminine just in case.

He did have to stop her from buying a bright pink layette set "you don't know if it's a boy or girl yet" he reminded her when she'd been reluctant to put it back, but when he picked up a soft brown teddy bear and paid for it with his own money Jackie's joyful smile returned.

She knew Sherlock well enough that she'd seen right away his worries about what her and Hyde having a biological child could mean, and she'd already taken steps to counteract his wounded psyche. She'd called King and the others and put a plan into action, they would all make sure Sherlock knew that he was still wanted and loved.


	7. Chapter 7

I own nothing

The next two months were a flurry of activity for Lock and Hyde under the strict scrutiny of a nesting Jackie.

The course of Jackie's pregnancy was normal as far as Sherlock could tell, granted he was basing this off of TV and had no real-world knowledge on the subject, but she smiled more than she cried so he figured that was a good thing?

He still worried about what would happen once there was a baby in the house, would they finally realize he was dangerous to have around? Hyde's calm self-assurance didn't waiver, but still Sherlock worried when he had time, Connor had shown up one day and asked if Sherlock would work some afternoons after school at his gym, he said he'd pay him as well as teach him to box if he wanted.

Sherlock accepted and soon found out that boxing was a good pass time for him, he got out a lot of aggression and anger while at the same time learned things that made him less afraid. He'd always fought, but it had been a wild vicious assault to stay alive, now there was form and slowly developing skill of which he was very proud.

When he got home after training with Connor, he was too tired to feel worried about Jackie and Hyde getting tired of him. He would eat dinner with them, shower and pass out. One day out of the blue, King arrived with her small son held carefully in her arms, Sherlock watched the little boy stagger on chubby legs over to his father, who looked nothing short of amazed, which was when Sherlock knew that this was the first-time Connor had seen Maddox walk.

While Connor was proudly showing off his son to the others at the gym King approached Sherlock where he was trying to focus on his sweeping.

"how's it going?" she asked in a warm voice that still surprised him a bit.

"fine" he answered neutrally

"did you see Mad? He just got up from where we were playing guitar and took three real actual steps" she told him sounding proud and amazed by her tiny person learning something new.

"I saw, that was pretty cool" he told her with a small smile, Sherlock was fond of the little boy, he was more comfortable with Mad than he was with the adults sometimes because Mad just liked to listen to him read stories and didn't give him a knowing look when his face fell into a scowl when the dark thoughts returned.

"just think of how cool it will be when it's your own brother or sister taking their first steps" Kind said with a grin

"I'm not really their kid Kingsley, you of all people should understand that" he said darkly

"I understand that you feel that way, I don't agree but I understand. But the arrival is getting close, and I don't want to see you do something dumb because you think you're not really family, so if you start feeling like that I want you to promise to come tell one of us ok? We really do care Sherlock" King told him seriously

"whatever" he shrugged and left to go tell Mad how good of a job he'd done.

King watched him go and vowed to keep a close eye on him until he accepted that Jackie and Hyde were capable of caring about him even with a new baby. She got not trusting that people cared, hell she still had trouble believing that Connor was really in love with her, but he made sure to remind her how much he did love her often. she was sure that once the baby was actually born the quality she'd witnessed in Sherlock when he dealt with Mad would be doubly as strong with it, all he needed was to stick around long enough to see for himself.

There was a side effect of Jackie being pregnant that Sherlock had no idea he'd need to prepare for, he had asked Kick and Max what it had been like being around King and Connor during Mads incubation so as to get an idea of what he was in for. But their description couldn't hope to prepare him for the inevitable that would soon be there.

Jackie had made it to the 7-month mark (having not announced it until five months) before Hyde dropped the news on Sherlock while he sat at the small table -eating the largest bowl of cereal Hyde had seen since Fez discovered lucky charms.

"hey before you go into some sort of food induced coma, I wanted to let you know that were going to have some company here to help jacks get everything ready for the baby" Hyde told him casually as he took a seat across from the 15-year-old, now eyeing him suspiciously after what he'd said.

"company? What sort of company? The only people I've ever seen you hang around with live less than a block away" Sherlock pointed out flatly

"I know other people besides them! not a lot but – ya know – some others, but that's not the point, the point is - people are coming to stay here so I want you to get used to the idea before they do. I know you don't like being around a lot of people and I can't say that I blame you, but these people are important and I don't want you freaking out and getting off on the wrong foot with them, understand?" he said in a much more serious tone than he generally used with his foster son.

"trying to break the idea gently so I don't have a total freak out fit and bail?" Sherlock summarized curiously, he knew that for all he wished it weren't the truth, Hyde was right, if he didn't have a few days to get used to the idea it was more than likely that that was precisely what would happen.

"I think I can handle it, don't sweat it ok, but who are these 'guests' you allude to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

It was out of character for Hyde to care what anyone thought, so the fact that he wanted Sherlock forewarned and therefore less volatile, made Sherlock wonder what was really going on?

The grin that never failed to make Sherlock glare sprang onto Hyde's face.

"ah Sherlock, the day is almost here where you will experience one of the greatest and yet most exhausting things your young mind could imagine, next week you will meet none other than the Forman's" he said with an almost pitying look for Sherlock, who still looked very much the street kid.

Sherlock stared back with a blank expression.

"who're they?" he asked wishing for once that Hyde would just tell him instead of watching him guess.

But his wish would not be granted that day, because Hyde simply smiled a deeply amused smile and said

"they're my family" with such quiet pride that Sherlock didn't know what to say in response?

He had been under the impression that Hyde – much like Jackie and all of Rockwall – didn't have a family in the traditional sense? But it seemed he was wrong.

"cool" Sherlock said for lack of a better response"

"glad to hear you're optimistic about it, now there are a few things I should mention before they get here" Hyde began thoughtfully, not wanting to miss something important.

"I'm all ears dude" Sherlock said and pushed his bowl away to give Hyde his full attention.

"don't be disrespectful towards Red or Kitty, not only will Red make you regret it but Jackie will too and I won't exactly be impressed, that's the main thing, also, try to take Kitty in stride and not lose your composure, she can be a lot to take at first but she means well and even if affection isn't something you're used to, she really does mean it honestly. Now as for my brother" he was about to go on but the surprise of what he'd just heard made Sherlock interrupt.

"you have a brother?" he almost shouted, Hyde did not seem like someone who'd grown up sharing toys, to put it mildly

"I do yes, Eric, as I was saying – when it comes to him don't let all the dorky things he talks about fool you, there just his way of blowing off steam, he's not a dumb immature kid – far from it actually – but he has a tendency to….ramble about certain things….at length….no matter how much he's threatened with bodily harm, his bravery is actually pretty impressive there now that I think about it" Hyde mused thoughtfully, as if he'd never considered it in that light until he was explaining it to a third party.

"anyway, Eric is a good guy he's been my best friend since we were little kids and I would really appreciate it if you were respectful towards him and our parents, I'm not saying you have to pretend to be something you're not, but just try to take it all in stride and give them and honest chance before you decide how you feel about them" Hyde asked seriously.

"you mentioned him before, right? Red? You said he saved you from your sleazy mom" Sherlock asked, dredging up the memory of his first real conversation with Hyde, the one that showed him a kindred spirit in the older man, that even though Hyde didn't like to talk about it he knew what haunted Sherlock and would help him through it. Neither of them ever alluded to that conversation again, neither of them were big with showing or sharing emotions, but Sherlock always remembered it whenever he began feeling like he was all alone. He wasn't, Hyde – and in a different but similar way Jackie – new what it was like to only have yourself to rely on.

"yeah, he did. Mostly because Kitty and Eric made him, but I figured out a long time ago that he wouldn't have listened to them if he hadn't wanted to, no one makes Red Forman do something he doesn't want to. He's a truly great man Sherlock and if you can make it thought the introductions without getting a foot in your ass you can learn a lot from him about how to be a man" Hyde informed him with his usual smirk, but Sherlock knew he wasn't kidding.

Unfortunately, Hyde's glowing description of his family really, just made Sherlock more nervous to meet them, he had trouble believing they could be as amazing as Hyde described. But if he thought Hyde's description of them was reverent, it was nothing compared to Jackie's.

She flew into the kitchen with an intent expression while they were still at the kitchen table discussing what was left on their 'things that WILL be done before the baby arrives, ok I will personally make you suffer and I mean it!' list from Jackie, that was the honest to god heading at the top of the list that hung on the fridge, Sherlock had laughed when he first saw it until he had seen the look on Hyde's face, then they solemnly read the list together with a shared feeling of doom – she had covered a lot of ground.

"Steven, did you call them?! Are they coming? When do they get here?!" she asked with a level of excitement that put Sherlock on edge but didn't seem to faze Hyde, Sherlock had a feeling he was used to this level of energy from his tiny wife. Sometimes Sherlock forgot the two had grown up together, he made a mental not to ask about their past at some point.

"chill doll, yes I called them yesterday, yes they're coming, Red and Kitty will be here in three day, Eric the day after, Sherlock and I have somehow managed to work through the bulk of your truly insane list – and I say that with love – so there's nothing for you to worry about ok?" he told her in a calm soothing voice that seemed to work on Jackie, when she visibly relaxed Sherlocks opinion of Hyde raised yet again, he had some truly impressive skills.

"thank you puddin'" Jackie said sweetly and gave Hyde a quick kiss.

"puddin'?" Sherlock asked stifling laughter

"button it kid" Hyde growled

"well I would, but a mental pro and con list I just did tells me that whatever consequences I may endure form pressing for more information on this newly revealed topic, are well worth it" he said with a rare wide smile at the look of embarrassment on the always cool Hyde's face.

Hyde glared at Sherlocks amused and steady gaze, the staring contest would have gone on for a very long time if they hadn't had their concentration broken by Jackie giggling loudly.

"calm down puddin' pop, there are worse nicknames to have, just think of all the ones you gave Kelso" Jackie said through the laughter.

"so, the formal version is puddin' pop? I'll have to remember that so I can use it properly on state occasions" Sherlock said with a serious tone but a barely suppressed grin.

"Sherlock, I love you but I will have no choice but to sell you to gypsies if you ever, EVER let that name cross your lips!" Hyde told him with a dark scowl, he was expecting the usual witty retort from the boy, but none came?

Hyde was about to ask what was wrong, when Jackie shooed him out of the room with a quick gesture and whispered promise to explain later. Hyde was confused but did as Jackie said and decided it was a good opportunity to pick up the rest of the paint they needed for their projects.

Jackie took Hyde's now empty seat, took one look at he stunned look on Sherlocks face and sighed.

"it's true you know, for both of us" she told him flatly

"whatever" Sherlock mumbled uncomfortably.

"you know, it should probably bother me the amount of times someone's response to me saying I love them has been 'whatever', and now that I think about it – it does! You and Steven are so damn similar sometimes I want to scream! You both got the stupid idea that just because your parents suck it means no one could ever love you, well my parents sucked pretty damn hard too and I still manage to believe that I'm loved. You need to listen to me this instant and I mean really listen Sherlock, Steven and I love you, you are ours now, we will never throw you out, we will never leave you behind and we will never give up on you! One of the most important things I learned when I met Kingsley is that, family isn't just who you're born to, it's the people who love you and are there for you whether you've asked or not." Jackie spoke passionately to him, wanting him to really understand once and for all that he was part of their family no matter what happened.

"I want to believe you, but it's hard to" Sherlock murmured staring at his scuffed black boots, unable to face the look of kindness on Jackie's face just then.

"fair enough, it's not really something that can be proven with words anyway, you'll get used to it eventually because it's not going to change, that I can promise" Jackie told him seriously

"when…when did you know for sure that Hyde loved you? From what I've gathered you and he had a rocky start" Sherlock asked curiously, he'd wondered about it for a while but hadn't had an opening to ask until just then.

"when I knew for sure? Hmm" she said pausing to think the question over, it required some thought because there was the moment that she knew Hyde was interested in her, the moment she realized he genuinely liked her, and the moment she first thought he loved her but what Sherlock was asking was for the moment she was 'sure' he loved her, and that was harder to pin point in the sea of memories they shared.

"we grew up in Wisconsin – don't give me that look! Wisconsin is lovely – anyway, it snows a lot there and there isn't a whole lot to do where we lived so our group of…. we'll use the term friends to save time, liked to go to the old water tower and just…. fucking stand up there looking out at the trees! I thought it was stupid then and I think it's stupid now! But I digress, the moment I knew for sure that Steven loved me and I could really trust him was one day when they'd all decided to go get their fill of the stupid ass tree tops! We HAD been in the basement watching TV when our resident moron came up with the brilliant plan to go climb a metal ladder in subzero temperatures to get some quality tree viewing in, I didn't want to go – I don't know if you've ever noticed it, but I don't carry a whole lot of body weight normally and I get cold very easily, as soon as I said I didn't want to go my useless bastard boyfriend at that time started whining – honest to god whining like a two year old! – that I was no fun, and my only female friend at the time made fun of me for being a wimp, just because she was draught and famine resistant meant I was a wimp for getting cold in a blizzard!" Jackie snapped angrily as the memory formed in her mind.

"you're digressing again Jackie, as much as your friends back then sound like a bunch of dicks that's not the story your telling right now" Sherlock gently pushed her back to the original point.

"right, right, you're right I'm sorry" she said with a slightly embarrassed look for her wide veer of point

"so, they're all bitching like me not wanting to trudge through the snow is the most selfish thing I'd ever done, and let me be very clear on this point – I could be way more selfish than that! When Steven finally spoke up, he dropped his boots to the ground off the coffee table so hard the noise got their attention, when they looked over he gave them a look that would have made most people run for cover and he said:

'I'm with the wimp, its fucking freezing out there and you're all fucking stupid if that sounds like a good time to you! Me and the wimp are going to go to the Hub and eat warm food and drink hot chocolate on her dime while you dumbasses freeze your dumb asses off…dumbasses! Come on wimp lets go be wimpy and warm instead of cool and cold'

"then he tossed me my coat and dragged me out of there before they could say anything back, and we went to the Hub and had a really fun afternoon without them, and the moment I knew for sure that I fell into the category of people that Steven Hyde actually loved was when he stopped me before we left the Hub and buttoned the top button of my coat id missed and wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck and muttered gruffly that he didn't want me to get sick. He's different now then he was back then, but trust me that it was a very rare thing for him to show care in any way for someone, it was still a long, long time before I knew he was in love with me too, but that was the moment that I knew he loved me and I could rely on him to be there for me" Jackie said with unshed tears in her eyes,

The mixture of pregnancy hormones with her precious memories of her and Stevens beginnings made her emotional.

"that was a really anti-climactic story dude, I'm not saying I don't get it, I just figured knowing Hyde it would be something like he beat the shit out of someone to defend your honor or something" Sherlock admitted with a shrug

"let me tell you a story about the greatest holiday of our great country – veterans day" Jackie said with a happy gleam in her eyes.

"isn't that just a bank holiday?" Sherlock asked dryly

"shush! Do not dismiss the most romantic holiday in existence!" she cried dramatically

Sherlock was about to point out that romance had literally nothing to do with veteran's day, when he thought better of it and stayed silent as Jackie recounted a tale of Hyde as a white knight on a horse?

The man in question got back not long after the story was over and Sherlock was in the process of asking his follow up questions.

"so, out of nowhere he changes his mind and asks you on a date? How the hell did he get there from punching some David Cassidy wannabe?" Sherlock asked Jackie while unaware that Hyde was leaning in the doorway listening to them dissect his actions from so long ago.

"Mrs. Forman threatened me at gun point" Hyde said from behind Sherlock making him jump and earning a glare form his wife.

"she did not!" Jackie snapped

"honest to god jacks" he swore with an amused smirk

"you two are really weird, you know that, right?" Sherlock asked dryly

"it has come to our attention once or twice over the years that we are not the garden variety couple yes" Hyde acquiesced to the claim.

"as long as you're aware" Sherlock drawled with a flat expression, he would die before letting it show how much he liked the stories about them finding each other, in fact his nimble mind was already searching for a neutral question that would spark more information.

Luckily Jackie had outgrown many things over the years, but not her love of talking, and was already giving Sherlock what he'd hoped for.

"back when we first started dating, our group - that you referred to as dicks"

Here Sherlock interjected "I've since amended that to 'bag of dicks' they sound like a big bag of dicks as far as I can tell"

Jackie was about to comment on his language when Hyde spoke first "he's not wrong doll, it sums it up pretty well"

"fair enough" Jackie allowed the analogy "as I was saying, when we first started dating they used to constantly bitch and moan that we were creep and unnatural, and actually told us to break up on several occasions" she told Sherlock with a laugh, but he could sense real pain with the memory. Bag of dicks apparently wasn't strong enough for this lot, he'd have to put some thought into that.

"were they really that jealous that you two fell in love and didn't need them anymore?" Sherlock asked curiously, it sounded immensely petty to him and it was hard to imagine.

Jackie and Hyde were both staring wide eyed at him with matching expressions of shock.

"that never occurred to me" Jackie murmured

"me either" Hyde concurred

Sherlock looked at his foster parents with a look of disbelief

"it really never occurred to either of you that your 'bag of dicks loser basement friends' had such a problem with you being together because there's such an obvious difference between pseudo teenager love, and what you two clearly had that it made them feel like you'd matured past them and they had to try and knock you both down to save their pride?" he asked skeptical that two smart people had never put together what seemed so glaringly obvious to him.

"who exactly are you calling a bag of dicks scary looking kid I don't know? Is it like the basement was the bag and all those inside were dicks? Or were we each an individual self-contained bag of dicks?" a new voice asked from the same doorway Hyde had startled him from.

Sherlock was getting a little tired of people sneaking up on him and whirled to see who this new person dissecting his terminology was?!

It was hard to get a clear line of sight on the guy as he was already being engulfed in a joyous group hug by Jackie and Hyde who looked surprised but delighted to see him. When they finally moved aside enough for Sherlock to see the man, he saw a skinny tanned guy with a kind face and an easy smile

"you're here early" Hyde said happily as he leaned on the kitchen counter and crossed his arms.

"I am yes, I decided to lie about when I could make it here to surprise you two, for no other reason than I thought it would be amusing – and it is" the new arrival stated with a smug expression.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Jackie sobbed confusingly and held the man in a tight hug which he shrugged and accepted after a moment and wrapped one long arm around Jackie's shaking body.

Finally noticing Sherlocks confusion Hyde spoke up "Sherlock this is my brother Eric, who thinks it's funny to make my pregnant wife cry for his personal amusement, Forman this is our son Sherlock we told you about" Hyde made the introductions with without much fanfare.

"so, you're Sherlock huh? Nice to meet you, feel free to call me uncle Eric" he said with a misty expression

"that sounds unlikely" Sherlock replied flatly

"you say that now, but something tells me you'll warm to it soon enough" Eric said with a sure smile

"I wouldn't bet on it dude" Sherlock told him with a blank stare

"wow, he's just as unfriendly as you Hyde, are you sure he's not your biological son?" Eric asked flippantly

"fairly sure I didn't produce any offspring in 2nd grade, but then again my memory's crap" Hyde mused thoughtfully

"the similarities are because I attract a certain kind of wounded soul that can only be healed by my unique understanding and love" Jackie supplied pompously but with a joking twinkle in her eye.

"still as humble as ever devil, it's comforting to know there are some constants in the universe, even if their your towering ego" Eric teased her

"watch it string bean or I'll make you feel the baby kick" Jackie threatened with narrowed eyes

Sherlock nearly laughed when the color drained out of Eric's tanned face and his eyes went wide with panic.

"Jackie! You know that totally freaks me out, it's like an alien is trying to break free!" Eric said in a high panicked voice.

"and this is where she attacks" Hyde muttered with a smile, just as Jackie went after Eric with an oven mitt shaped like a cat for comparing her baby to an alien.

Hyde and Sherlock watched her chase Eric out of the kitchen with impressive speed for her 7-month pregnant body, and laughed at the cries of remorse from the man being assaulted with an oven mitt.

"so, that's your brother?" Sherlock said conversationally

Hyde nodded slowly "yep, that's my brother" he confirmed with a laugh before going to the living room to save Eric from Jackie's wrath.

A/N I hope that was enjoyable for all, in the next chapter if all goes as planned Red and Kitty will be there too, so until next time!

Also, feel free to review as I'm worried that these chapters leading up to the baby may be too dull and it'd be nice to know whether they're liked or a waste of time, if they're a waste ill just skip ahead in time somehow. Thank you all.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N I would like to say that I'm very impressed with writers who plot out everything and rewrite and all that attention to detail stuff, it's amazing and I salute you, I am however – not one of them. Regretfully I kick back with my laptop with parks and recreation in the background, drinking coffee and write out what comes to me at the time and spell check, I've considered in the past to try and emulate the people who do such amazing work, but it has become apparent that my system is not going to change. The downside of how I write is that on occasion…. I forget what I've already written.

I'd like to thank you all for not pointing out the continuity problem I created between things change and this story, it was my own fault but it's too late to go back now so let's all just agree to gloss it over and move on, thank you for your understanding. And I hope you enjoy this chapter that admittedly I have about half of planned in my head. Also, if anyone would like to suggest an end for Sherlocks story I'm all ears.

It was about three in the morning and Sherlock couldn't sleep, the day had been just too much for his mind to shut down and find the rest his body was screaming for. Not only had he learned so many things about his foster parents that his mind wouldn't shut down, and kept processing and filing the information away in its proper places.

Finally, he gave up trying to sleep and went to the kitchen to steel some of Jackie's ice cream, her favorite just happened to be his favorite and it was an ongoing cycle of theft and replacement between them, with Hyde watching with a smirk while eating his own favorite that only he liked – rocky road.

With a grin that didn't often grace his features in the day light Sherlock puled the container of butter brickle out of the back of the freezer where Jackie had surrounded in with bags of frozen peas – Sherlock wondered why there were as many frozen peas as there were? None of them liked peas.

Honestly, he wouldn't put it past her to buy them just to hide her ice cream with, his foster mother had some peculiar habits.

With a shrug for her and Hyde's peculiarities, Sherlock took the carton to the table - spoon in hand – and started eating while thinking of what was to come.

"thief!" a shrill scandalized voice screamed from the doorway.

Sherlock whirled around to see Jackie in a bathrobe pointing a finger in his direction.

"uh…. your dreaming?" he attempted lamely to avoid yet another ice cream ownership debate (sadly there had been a few already)

"if I was dreaming id have a waist! So, I know I'm awake" she said gesturing to her very round belly,

"I left you some this time" he admitted and pushed the half full carton towards the chair across from him as an invitation to join him.

"well that's an improvement over the last time" she noted dryly

"that was retaliation for you eating the rest of mine after you'd finished yours" Sherlock reminded her pointedly of her craving induced binge.

"I thought we agreed to never mention that again?!" Jackie snapped, she was a bit embarrassed about her unladylike display of gluttony on that occasion.

"oops" Sherlock smirked and got up to get Jackie a bowl and spoon, as uneasy as he was about her having a baby and seeing him or what he thought himself to be finally, he still cared about her more than he wanted to admit and went out of his way to make her life easier while she was pregnant.

"I proof read your paper on to kill a mocking bird, and I wanted to tell you that it was really good, but also – I before E Sherlock! I before E! how you can't grasp that is beyond me" she said at a loss.

Sherlock just shrugged "cut me some slack I haven't been to school since I was 11" he pointed out logically

"that is irrelevant and you know it, you tested well enough in all the subjects to start in the proper grade after two months of reviewing, but you can't spell? What the hell is that?" she asked, she seriously wanted to know how he could be so smart but not know what letters went in a word?

"dunno? I guess I read too fast to know what letters are there" he offered blandly, it was true though, Sherlock poured over the pages of a book so swiftly that his mind saw sentences not words.

Jackie stared at him looking like she wanted to say something, but eventually decided against it and raised a spoonful of ice cream to her mouth. They ate in silence for a little while, but it wasn't long before Jackie's need to talk took over, she was up for a similar reason to Sherlocks but unlike her foster son, Jackie wasn't shy about sharing what was on her mind.

"are you mad at me?" she asked out of the blue as far as Sherlock could tell

He nearly choked on his mouthful of ice cream at this question and stared at her wide eyed, how could she think after everything she'd done for him that he'd be mad at her? She'd saved him from a fate worse than death, taken him into her home instead of banishing him to the system, she and Hyde had even gone so far as to care about him when no one else in his life ever had.

But all that came out of his mouth was "no" muffled by butter brickle

"I've been worried that me getting pregnant made you feel betrayed" Jackie explained her reasoning

Sherlock set his spoon in the bowl and looked at the tiny woman who loomed so big in his life

"you don't owe me anything, so you couldn't betray me." He told her seriously

"Sherlock that's a load of crap" she told him firmly "by taking you in we made a commitment to care for you which is a promise, which means that if you don't feel cared for we've failed you. Now tell me the truth – are you happy here with us or do you want me to find you a better home where you would be happy?" she asked in a neutral tone to hide how worried she was that he'd say yes.

Sherlock gaped at Jackie, shock didn't cover the feeling her words made him feel. Suddenly he felt sick with himself, bordering on hatred. Why was this a conversation that kept happening in one form or another?! Why did his behavior keep making her and Hyde worried and upset? Why couldn't he just stop it all and stop being a pain in the ass?

There had to be words that would stop it all and let her sleep, words that would fix the damage his gloomy brain had done to them, but if there were Sherlock wasn't in possession of them. All he knew was that his worries about his place with them aside, he was happy for them and so very grateful for all they'd done to help him.

So instead Sherlock stood up and put his empty bowl in the sink, then crossed to where Jackie sat waiting for his answer and leaned down to place a quick kiss on her head.

"stop worrying and get some sleep mom" he told her quietly, then went back to bed while Jackie stared after him smiling with pure joy even as tears streamed down her face.

Seven words ended their worries for some time, there would be one last event to finally put it to rest for good, but for now they were good.

Hyde never made any comment about Sherlock casually taking up the practice of calling Jackie mom, he acted as if he didn't notice the change in the slightest. of course, the first thing Jackie did when she could move again, was go and wake Hyde up and tell him what Sherlock had said, so he was aware of it but knew that he appreciated no one commenting when he had started calling Kitty mom and would extend that same courtesy to Sherlock.

The first morning with Eric back with them was…eventful.

Sherlock was drinking coffee while ignoring Jackie's glare of jealousy – she wasn't permitted caffeine while pregnant and resented all who were still allowed to have – while Hyde was busy cooking breakfast, when Eric joined them at the table yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Eric and Hyde talked idly about what they would do that day in preparation for their parents, so far as Sherlock could tell, Eric would be staying at Kicks house and the legendary Forman's would be staying wherever they pleased? From what Sherlock, could gather, no one told these people what they were doing – they told them.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't apprehensive about meeting them, but knew there was no choice. Sherlock was half way through his eggs when Jackie got up and dialed a number on the kitchen phone.

"hey Kick, can you all come over right away? There's something I want to show you…. now!" she snapped the last word, presumably because Kick had offered opposition to what shed said?

Sherlock was used to the group and their love of surprises and figured it had something to do with Hyde's skinny brothers arrival? What he wasn't expecting was what happened when their front door opened without a knock – they all agreed it wasn't needed between them – and King walked through looking alert and scary.

Sherlock always found King intimidating, but took solace in the belief he wasn't the only one who did. Her deep blue eyes flashed as she set Mad down to toddle directly to him. Sherlock picked up the small boy and watched as King gave Eric a flat look before yelling over her shoulder to the others who were still outside.

"Kick, your hetero life mate is here!" while maintaining eye contact with Eric, who just grinned back at her unafraid, this alone made Sherlock reevaluate his first impression of Eric Forman.

Before Sherlock could blink Kick was through the door in a blur of blue hair and hurling himself at Eric who'd stood up expecting this response to his presence.

"skywalker!"

"obi wan!" the two grown men cried happily, while a brindle ball of muscle and teeth leapt excitedly around them?

"I see you've finally decided to return MY dog" Jackie said irritably to Kick, complete with hands set on her hips

Kick turned to Jackie with an ingratiating smile that every last person knew was phony

"Jackie, I told you, chewie needed time to recuperate after our road trip" he said in a reasonable voice that seemed to just annoy Jackie more.

"that road trip was two months ago, I want my dog back!" Jackie cried dangerously close to actual anger

Kick gulped and took a step back out of the imminent danger zone, Jackie was scary most of the time but pregnant Jackie was downright terrifying.

"easy there apple jacks, think of the baby before you attempt to kill me" Kick said fearfully "I was bringing him back today" he claimed, it was a lie and they all knew it but Jackie let it slide for the time being, she gave Kick a hard look and snapped her fingers – instantaneously chewie flew to her and sat obediently at her side, closing his eyes happily while Jackie stroked his broad head.

Sherlock wasn't sure about living with a truly massive Pitbull, but he seemed totally docile in Jackie's presence (she had that effect on a lot of things) so he hoped he'd be safe.

"so how you been Eric?" King asked to move beyond the dog argument

"good, good, made a lot of progress with the school down there, enough actually that I got bonus credits which put me over the top" he told her casually

Sherlock had no idea why this statement earned loud cheers and happy cries from his adopted family? But he got his answer soon enough from Kick.

"does that mean you're done?" he asked his friend excitedly

"that it does fellow Jedi! This isn't just a visit, I'm here for good if you'll have me?" Eric confirmed with a wide smile.

Judging by the celebratory cries, Sherlock was fairly sure Eric was more than welcome to stay with them in their weird – but happy – home down the street. In fact, they were already discussing who would stay where while Hyde agreed to help remodel the garage apartment.

Sherlock was watching the family reunion when he felt Jackie's hand on his shoulder.

"they're great, aren't they?" she said with a fond smile at her family's antics

"yeah" Sherlock agreed softly

"those people there are all I ever dreamed of when I was a kid – a close knit family that truly loved and cared for each other, imagine my shock when I found that wrapped up in dyed hair and ripped clothes?" she laughed slightly.

Suddenly something clicked in Sherlocks head that hadn't before and he glanced up at Jackie. Since he had met her she had looked like a classy pin up girl from the 40's with a Ska flare. He'd personally seen her ska dance (she taught him it was called skanking) on stage at a Fishbone show shortly after he started living with them, and she'd done it flawlessly - as if she did it all the time – which made him get the idea that Jackie had always been in the life, which conflicted with her total perfection of appearance.

"were you different before you met them?" he asked curiously

Jackie greeted the question with a sly smile "I came here to California on a cheerleading scholarship" she told him with great amusement, Sherlock could only gape at her with wide eyes and slack jaw – his mom had been a cheerleader?!

"stop looking so scandalized! Someday soon we are going to sit down and I'll tell you my life story from start to finish!" she said threateningly

Sherlock stood up from his chair, towering over Jackie's diminutive stature at nearly six feet tall and stooped to lay his head on her shoulder affectionately.

"I'd like that mom" he murmured honestly.

Every story she told him made him feel more a part of their family, the longer he stayed with them the more he came to respect both for their strength and integrity. His harsh years as a forgotten street kid made it hard for him to stop the bouts of discomfort and panic that came with domestic living, but he believed finally that no matter where he went or for how long, he could always come back to Hyde and Jackie because it was home.

Jackie hugged Sherlocks head and smiled, he might only be six years or so younger than her, but he was her son plain and simple and she'd tear apart anyone who tried to say different.

They were brought back to the conversation among the others when Kick asked Jackie a question.

"when do they get here?" he asked excitedly

"the Forman's? They should get in tomorrow around six, I expect every one of you to be here for dinner too!" Jackie decreed imperiously, although no one looked as if they were going to argue in the first place.

"who's cooking this dinner?" Hyde asked with a smirk

Jackie gave her husband a narrow-eyed glare "Max" she said flatly, it was no secret that cooking was not a natural talent of hers, she did ok on a few familiar dishes but it ended there. For something as important as Hyde and Eric's parent's welcome dinner, she'd outsourced to Max, who nodded his quiet agreement to the job.

Soon they were all involved in the planning of the festivities, all of which were rather mild mannered and quiet for the group as he'd known them, but they still looked excited?

Sherlock was a ball of nerves while he waited for Kick and Eric to return from the airport with the fabled parents. Jackie was waddling (and no, no one spoke that word) around the house checking on every possible thing to make sure her in laws were as comfortable as possible, and that just made Sherlock more on edge.

He was drumming his fingers on the arm of the couch wishing he had nicer clothes to meet them in or at least thought to cut his green mohawk off. He was positive the Forman's wouldn't like him as he was at the moment – torn jeans, ratty black flag t-shirt and disheveled faded green mohawk – but none of that had occurred to him before it was too late to remedy!

The sound of a car pulling into the drive caught his attention and he sat up with a shot, ready to bolt if they looked as though they wanted him gone. Jackie passed by him to meet them at the door and fondly ruffled his hair.

"they'll love you chill out" she said comfortingly, then threw the door open just as a small older woman in a blue dress and perfectly styled hair flew at Jackie with a giddy laugh.

Every muscle in Sherlocks body tensed while he waited for them to inevitably notice his presence, sure enough Hyde's and Eric's mother stopped short when her line of sight fell on him. Sherlocks lungs stopped working.

"my new grandson!" she cried extatically and was hugging him tightly and before he knew what was happening she was pulling him to his feet to get a better look at him. Kitty Forman had her hands on his shoulders and was turning him too and fro as she took in every detail about the fifteen-year-old.

"aren't you handsome!" she laughed an odd but pleasant laugh and cupped his shocked face in her hands. "those cheekbones!" she went on and was hugging him again like she'd known him since he was a baby?

"kitty stop scaring the boy, he looks like he's searching for an escape route!" a gruff voice called from the door, making Kitty release Sherlock somewhat.

"Red Forman, you come meet your grandson this moment!" Kitty ordered firmly

The gruff man complied with his wife's order and crossed the room to stand before Sherlock while giving him an appraising look, again Sherlock wished he'd attempted to be more presentable.

"what's your name again son?" Red asked bluntly, not at all embarrassed that he'd forgotten it.

"uh, Sherlock" he answered awkwardly

Red raised an eyebrow at him and didn't look impressed with this answer.

"that's not a name that's a fictional character" Red stated flatly

"Red he can use any name he wants" Kitty defended, one arm around Sherlock like she'd already taken ownership of the wayward boy and Red better fall in line.

"Kitty he has a real name an unless its 'Archibald' it can't be that bad" Red argued

Not wanting to be the cause of an argument already Sherlock spoke up to head it off

"Sean, my names Sean" he said nervously

This earned him an approving look from Red, who Sherlock was already somewhat afraid of and he wasn't used to being afraid of anyone.

"see that's a solid name for a solid man" Red said with a less frightening smile and clapped Sherlock on the shoulder proudly, then his attention turned to Jackie and the expression on the old man's face turned soft.

"Mr. Forman!" she cried happily and moved as fast as she could embrace him.

"hey there honey, you feeling ok?" Red asked with such sweet concern that Sherlock heard Kitty sniff back happy tears.

"pretty good" Jackie assured him

"if that dumbass son of mine isn't helping you out enough you let me know" Red ordered and smiled at Jackie.

"of course," Jackie agreed with a wicked grin directed at Hyde, who looked unworried about their plotting.

Sherlock suddenly felt overwhelmed and began to slip out of Kitty's grip to make his escape until he could get it together again, but his intent was spotted right away by an unlikely source.

"so, Sean, I hear you've been doing a lot of work on the back yard, why don't you show me?" Red Forman ordered in the form of a question.

Not having a way to refuse without being rude, Sherlock nodded shortly and turned to lead the way into the back yard he'd spent so much time on. At first because he'd upset Jackie a few times, and then because he truly like seeing the results he could get.

Red followed him out onto the patio Sherlock had broken apart and re -laid a few weeks earlier, and began looking around the various projects the young man had undertaken, the BBQ he'd built out of bricks he'd hauled home from a dump site, the pond he'd dug after taking off one night and not returning for three days, and the bench he'd built for Jackie next to it as an extra apology.

He stood awkwardly on the perfectly mown grass while the intimidating old man inspected his handy work with a trained eye. Finally, he came back to where Sherlock stood and looked at him while he thought over what he'd just seen.

"you've got some talent son, but you need a bit of practical knowledge too, if you want I can teach you some things while I'm here" Red offered evenly.

Sherlock shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and looked at the ground before he spoke,

"I've been wanting to build a gazebo or something for mom to sit with the baby but I don't know where to start" he admitted after a while.

Red stared at the rough looking kid his own foster son and daughter had taken in, then spoke in a totally normal tone of voice.

"that sounds real nice for Jackie son, I'll show you how to do it" Red said offhandedly and began listing off what they'd need to start.

Sherlock could see why they'd all spoken so highly of the Forman's, Red was someone easy to look up to and Kitty someone to feel loved by, no matter who you were or where you came from.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N I'd like to thank everyone for the nice reviews, it really makes me want to keep going. I do have one request though, to the very sweet reviewer who only shows up as guest – please get an account so I can thank you personally! I'm serious, I get the feeling that the same person who requested this sequel is the one who writes the longest reviews…or maybe not? But I'd like to know who you are! Or really who all of you are because the bulk of reviews are from guests and when someone says something particularly nice I like to thank them in the authors notes, anyway, think about it, it's not too much of a pain to set up a user name and all that.

True to his word, Red Forman began helping Sherlock get started with the latest project he'd come up with. He showed him the best wood to get for an outside structure with their weather, taught him the right nails to use, showed him how to best use a level and a chalk line, showed him how to safely use an electric saw as well as a hand saw, and laid out the order that was best for beginning to build something of that size.

Sherlock soaked up the knowledge like a sponge and his respect for the old man grew which each off-hand bit of knowledge Red dropped. Sherlock began to get the impression there was nothing this man didn't know. Which led him to awkwardly ask about something he'd wanted to get started on for a while but had no idea how to.

"um, red – sir?" he began hesitantly, Red was busy inspecting the supplies they had set neatly around the build site.

"what is it son?" Red replied distractedly while debating whether they needed more shingles.

"uh, well, I have this old motor cycle Max gave me that he was going to scrap, but it doesn't run and I don't know why or how to fix it if it can be fixed, and I was thinking maybe you could take a look at it since it seems like you know about that stuff" Sherlock got out with some effort, it wasn't in his nature to ask for favors, especially when the person was already doing so much to help him.

"did he give you any information on the problem?" Red asked curiously, while at the same time uncomfortable with the idea of the boy riding a motorcycle for some reason?

"he said it's something with the engine and that's all he knew" Sherlock told him with a shrug, he knew nothing about mechanics but was eager to learn.

"sounds like you'll need someone a lot better with engines than me son, luckily, I know someone" red said confidently

"I'm not sure that I can get it to Wisconsin sir" Sherlock pointed out

"don't be a dumbass, you're better than that. No, the best mechanic I know just happens to be inside that house right this moment" Red informed him with a truly smug expression.

"Hyde's a mechanic?" Sherlock asked not really surprised when he stopped to think about it.

"I'm going out on a limb and guessing you didn't mention this bike to Jackie or Steven did you?" Red said shrewdly.

"uh, well, it doesn't run and probably never will so I didn't see the point" Sherlock explained

"and you knew they'd probably freak the hell out that you could be killed on a thing like that" Red added the part Sherlock had glossed over.

"that may have been a factor" Sherlock accepted blandly, it wasn't that he was in such a hurry to ride a motorcycle, it wasn't even something he'd ever thought of wanting to do, he just thought it was a nice looking bike if it got some work and didn't like seeing it just thrown out while there was still a chance for it.

"uh huh, well lucky for you it's time to go in for lunch and while were there you can ask my mechanic if they'll help you" Red told him with that peculiar tone he had that made people want to do what he said.

Sherlock bowed his head in acceptance and followed the older man back inside for the third lunch made under the hand of Kitty Forman, Sherlock was starting to wonder how her family wasn't each 300lbs? her food was amazing! And everyone sat together talking and laughing and being threatened with a foot in the ass when they got out of hand. He'd only seen big family dinners on TV and what he'd seen never made him want to experience for himself, they should put a family like them on TV, he thought idly – it'd be a lot more entertaining for people who didn't fall in the cookie cutter nuclear family demographic.

He was half way through the amazing Dagwood sandwich Kitty had set in front of him after he'd washed his hands – at her stern order – when Red brought up the bike.

"so your son here got himself a motor cycle" he mentioned casually to Jackie and Hyde

Sherlock steeled for the impending explosion, but all he got was a "where?!" from Jackie and a "what kind?" form Hyde, but both were looking at him intently while waiting for him to answer.

"I don't know what kind it is? But, uh, Max gave it to me but it doesn't run" Sherlock assured them to avoid a lecture or worse – them being angry at him for the first time.

Jackie crossed her arms and gave him a hard look "what do you mean it doesn't run? What's wrong with it?" she demanded.

"how would I know?" Sherlock shrugged, then turned to Hyde "Red was saying you'd probably be able to figure out what was wrong and maybe fix it?" Sherlock said trying not to sound too impressed.

But the look Hyde was giving him did not fill him with confidence, and when the legendary smirk appeared Sherlock knew he'd said something wrong, he just didn't know what?

"hate to break it to you 'Lock, but anything past a tune up and I'm out of my league" Hyde told him looking way too happy about it.

Sherlock looked from Hyde to Red, trying to figure out what the hell was going on?

"he said you were the best mechanic he knew?" Sherlock offered at a loss for what else to say

This statement however was met with a snort of laughter form Hyde "oh Sherlock, he wasn't talking about me, the only mechanic Red goes to when he can't fix something himself is located slightly to my left" Hyde informed him with amusement

Sherlock's wide eyes adjusted to Hyde's left and fell on the overly smug face of his adopted mother, who nodded her head slowly.

"that's right honey, let it sink in" Jackie said sweetly, but with a definite edge of triumph

"you?" Sherlock asked more than a little surprised about it.

"everyone's always so shocked, yes me! I am fantastic with cars and engines in general, who do you think fixed the blender last month?" she asked archly

"I didn't actually think about it, seeing as I don't use the blender" Sherlock pointed out

Jackie waved her hand dismissively "beside the point! When I'm done eating, you mister, are going to show me this bike that just won't run" she decreed imperiously, then went back to eating her lunch.

For some reason Sherlock felt uneasy about the whole thing, it didn't help that when he glanced around at the others in the kitchen they all had similar looks of amusement for his predicament?

As soon as she finished eating, Jackie stood up, brushed the crumbs off her ever increasing belly and gave Sherlock a look that clearly said 'it's time'. With a sigh of resignation, he stood up and led Jackie through the door into the seldom used garage – both her and Hyde parked in the fenced off driveway.

He led her to the corner buy his work bench feeling more apprehensive with every step, this increased when he realized that Hyde and Red were standing in the doorway watching. While he moved a fair amount of boxes off the tarp covered bike Jackie was in full swing giving him a speech about the dangers of motor cycles and how it was silly to risk your life to try and look cool on some crappy rust bucket Honda.

Sherlock shot her a look to say most of her speech was unnecessary, and she just rolled her eyes but didn't stop her diatribe until he pulled the tarp off to show her the bike in question. To his infinite surprise the moment her eyes fell on it Jackie's mouth stopped moving?

"and there it is" he heard Hyde mutter to Red and both men chuckled fondly at the small woman now moving slowly towards the pile of parts that in theory were a motorcycle.

Jackie was silent as her miss-matched eyes scanned over the jumble of metal, then in a near reverent voice she murmured "it's a 1940 Indian chief"

she crouched beside the mess and without a thought Sherlock set a crate next to her to use as a chair – he didn't want her sitting on the cold ground – and helped her shift the parts obscuring the engine. She checked things Sherlock didn't recognize and moved parts for reasons he couldn't fathom. Finally, she stood up and wiped her hands with the bandana Sherlock always had in his back pocket – which she'd stolen.

"well the bad news is that whoever had this ran it without the right oil and that made the engine crap out, also its been sitting for who knows how long? And then there is the issue of me not liking the idea of you riding a motor cycle because you could be killed!" she told Sherlock firmly

"is there some good news in there?" he asked dryly

"the good news is I can fix it" she told him with a look in her eyes he hadn't seen before, but judging by the look on Red and Hyde's faces they had.

"I should probably mention at this point that I don't actually have any interest in riding a motor cycle, I just wanted to see if I could learn to fix it" Sherlock told her the actual situation

Jackie looked down right scandalized "you don't want to get it running so you can ride it?!" she demanded aghast "this is a 1940 Indian chief used in WWII! It's one of the best bikes to ever touch the road and you don't want to ride it?!" she screeched indignantly

"you were just saying how you didn't want me to!" Sherlock half shouted back with frustration

"Sherlock this is a testament to American craftsmanship, not wanting to ride a thing of such beauty is unpatriotic! It's like saying you wouldn't want to drive a corvette!" she told him fervently

"I don't want to drive a corvette" he informed her seriously

"crap" said Hyde

"now he's done it" agreed Red, both men still standing in the doorway just watching

"you don't want to drive a corvette? May I ask why that is?" she said dangerously

"because I like cars with some muscle, like challengers" Sherlock stated firm in his opinion and unwilling to give in on the subject.

"are you really standing there and telling me you don't consider the corvette to have muscle?!" Jackie shrieked indignantly.

"this is bad" said Hyde

"I'll say" agreed Red, but neither moved to intervene

The argument went on growing in volume and intensity to the point that Kitty and Eric came to see what was going on? It didn't take long for them to gather the topic at hand either, Jackie was loudly defending the superior design of the '32 ford for racing against Sherlock's claim that a Hemi Barracuda would blow it off the line.

"are either of you going to try and stop this?" Kitty asked the two observers

"nope" they said in unison, they knew enough of Jackie's passion on the subject of cars to stay far, far away from it.

"well someone needs to" Kitty said sternly

"I'll stop in mom" Eric told her confidently, and slipped past them to stand well out of range of the ongoing argument. Then with a deep breath he yelled out to the fighting pair.

"jaguars are the superior car!"

Two identical expression of utter disgust snapped to Eric, who stood smirking triumphantly at his success.

"Sherlock honey?" Jackie said in a calm sweet voice

"yeah mom?" he replied kindly

"get him" she ordered flatly,

Obviously Eric knew Jackie couldn't chase him down in her current condition, he hadn't accounted for her large, intimidating and loyal son however and his face went pale when Sherlock started coming towards him with his shoulders squared. Eric legged it out of the garage with impressive speed, but Sherlock was right on his heels.

"that door open?" Red asked Hyde neutrally

"yep" Hyde replied and pushed the button to raise the door.

As soon as the door was fully opened they were treated to the sight of Eric trying to evade Sherlock by ducking and weaving around cars and trashcans, while Sherlock headed him off with ease. Finally, Eric made a hail Mary attempt to use a burst of speed to slip around Sherlock's open right side, but Sherlock's legs were longer and faster and in a fairly impressive display of adolescent strength, Sherlock caught Eric around the waist and somehow managed to flip him up and throw him across his shoulders.

Red, Hyde and Kitty watched with stifled laughter as Sherlock walked back to the garage with Eric draped over his broad shoulders and came to a stop before Jackie, who crossed her arms and gave Eric's upside down face a wide smile.

"what were you saying about jaguars?" she asked in a dangerously sweet tone.

A/N hope you enjoyed what turned out to be a day in the life bonus chapter, it's just supposed to be funny since usually everything in this story is kind of dramatic, let me know if you liked it.


	10. Chapter 10

I own nothing,

The presence of Kitty Forman meant that the beginning of Jackie's labor was not the nerve racking nearly catastrophic event that Kings had been.

Kitty spotted the signs of early labor – well, early? And took steps to ensure it was as easy as possible for the tiny irritable brunette. By the time, Sherlock woke up that day and stumbled through the house to the kitchen, Jackie was walking in slow circles clutching onto Hyde's shoulder and asking in a none too amused voice if it was 'time to go to the damn hospital yet?'

"I'm sorry Jackie, but your contractions are still too far apart, if we took you now they'd just send us back home and I don't think you want to make the trip twice feeling like this" Kitty told her serenely, Sherlock was impressed with his new grandmothers (that was taking some getting used to) ability to stay calm, Hyde looked rattled and Red wouldn't look up from his newspaper.

"I know but it hurts, I want it to be over already" Jackie told them sounding very small and very scared, now that the time had come all her excitement was forgotten and replaced for the time being with fear born of uncertainty, not to mention both her and Hyde could clearly remember the horror of Maddox's delivery and how they'd almost lost King.

Sherlock watched from the background while the situation progressed. He sat silently as King and the others showed up and the discussion slash argument of who would accompany Jackie to the hospital and who would stay behind and wait, was long and occasionally loud.

He watched as Red looked like he couldn't take anymore and was about to put a stop to the argument, when Jackie beat him to it.

"not that I'm not flattered that every last one of you insists on being there but, it isn't realistic so calm the hell down and listen!" she snapped and slid into a chair with a sigh before continuing

"Kitty is coming with me, obviously, Steven is, Mr., Forman gets to choose what he does and either one is fine, Sherlock is coming too of course and King I'd really like for you to be there if you don't mind?" she said directly to her best friend who had been involved in a gruesome stare down with her cousin Kick over a spot in the waiting room.

Her blue eyes turned immediately to Jackie and softened "whatever you want Jackie, we've got your back" she promised with a tilt of her head.

"but we want to come too!" whined Kick, gesturing to himself and Max, Conner and Eric

Jackie looked too tired to deal with them and looked at King pleadingly to fix the problem without anyone feeling left out, but before she could step in and shut down the others Red beat her to it, possibly to make up for Jackie having to earlier.

"all of you sit down and shut it!" Red barked, Sherlock nearly lost it when all three large intimidating men – and Eric – obeyed in a flash and sat down on the kitchen floor (there were no more chairs left) without a sound.

Red glared down at them for a moment while he collected his thoughts to only have to say what he wanted to once. "there's no telling how long this will take once we get there, it could be over so quick you can all drive right over and join us, but it could also take hours and hours, if that's the case you'll all get bored and tired and hungry and start begging me to let you leave for a while, so let me be very clear here – once you step foot in that waiting room, you – will – not – be – leaving! Now, who wants to go, and who wants to stay and wait for a call?" he asked in a dangerous no nonsense tone.

The four men huddled on the floor glanced at each other in silent conference, after a few nods at each other Kick raised his hand for permission to speak, which Red granted with a stern nod.

"Sir! were all going to stay over at my house sir! we'll take turns as runner if any of you on sight need anything, one of us will be near the phone at all times so don't hesitate to call if you need food or whatever, we do ask that if you have warning that the time is soon to call us so we can get there for the main event, Sir!" Kick said in military fashion along with a full salute.

"sounds like a plan son" Red said with approval and gestured for them all to stand again. Sherlock happened to glance over at Jackie right before she could hide the amused smirk on her face, these people he'd ended up with? They were like nothing else he'd seen.

Finally, Kitty deemed it time for Jackie to go to the hospital and Red was stuck again directing nervous confused adults to the proper vehicle, King would drive Jackie with Hyde and Sherlock on either side of her for support on the way there, while Red and Kitty would follow in a separate car. They waved goodbye to Eric and the others who walked down the street to set up 'home base' as Kick and Red began calling it. Home base turned out to be a very good idea as Jackie's labor dragged on for over twenty hours, and having them take turns bringing food coffee and at one point a change of clothes came in very handy.

Unfortunately watching the mix matched family work as a unit proved to be the breaking point for Sherlock. Already on edge about what could be happening to Jackie, he began to question how he could ever really be a part of family? He didn't think he had it in him to care the way they cared, to drop his pride and decorum into the wind to help a member of his family? This odd collection of people defied normal standards of family, but no matter how they joked with each other or how they looked to the outside world, they were the most loving decent people he'd ever seen.

And he simply couldn't imagine belonging with them.

Hyde was no longer coming out to check in with them now, which Kitty told them meant it was near the end, Sherlock was tired from having been awake almost an entire day (he hadn't been able to nap like the others) and when Kitty smiled at him and asked if he was excited to meet his baby brother or sister? He mumbled something about having to go to the bathroom and bolted.

Emotionally stable was not a term likely to be ascribed to Sherlock at any point in the near future, and the feeling of family and all of it was just too much for him, he became certain again of his dormant fear that once they held that baby in their arms they would see that a fucked-up street kid with more issues than rolling stone was not someone they wanted around their kid.

He was almost to the elevator that would lead him back to the street – in more ways than one – when a strong but slender arm barred his path and damn near clotheslined him!

"going somewhere Sherlock?" King asked him conversationally

"I – I need to go King" he mumbled agitatedly

"I don't think that you do" she replied calmly, still firmly barring his escape, Sherlock was bigger than King but he'd have to hurt her to get by and not only was that not something he would dream of doing, but King could be dangerous if needed and he wasn't really up for getting owned by a girl just then.

"please king, let me go before they ask me to" he pleaded desperately, he couldn't bear the inevitable conversation where they asked him to leave, not from Jackie and Hyde who he'd foolishly begun to really consider his parents.

King looked at him with compassion and resolve.

"I want you to listen very carefully to me," she told him in a low commanding tone "you are not, and have never been, a place holder until they had a biological kid. Jackie and Hyde both love and want you, they know better than most what it is like to have no one care about you or look out for you and they will die before they let you feel like that ever again. I understand that you are afraid they will see you in a different lite once there is a baby around, but to continue to think that does them both a great disservice, have more faith in them and yourself, because any moment now a tiny defenseless person is going to enter the world – this world that can destroy a person while leaving them perfectly healthy, and you have the grand opportunity to defend that tiny person from the darkness you escaped, you have a choice to be a big brother who can and will ensure that this new Hyde will have the life so many of us should have had. Make the choice Sean." She ordered him calmly "make the choice and remember that you are their son and if you run it will break their hearts" King wasn't above guilting the hell out of a 16-year-old kid.

Everything she said played over in Sherlocks mind on an endless loop, but the part that got to him more than that he would break Jackie's heart, was the opportunity that King had pointed out. He could protect this new person, and if he was successful perhaps he could atone for some of the things he had done? Or maybe, just maybe someone in his life would look at him without knowing how his life had started?

But for whatever reason Sherlock bowed his head and allowed King to lead him back to the waiting room, where they didn't have long before a hugely smiling Hyde walked in to tell them to call the others then come in and meet the newest member of their family. He used the time walking down the ugly hall to Jackie's room to think of all the things he could teach a little brother, how to fight, how to make things, how to fix things, maybe it would be like King said it would after all?

He followed the others into the room and searched for his mom with his eyes, there she was lying in bed looking tired and sweaty but totally triumphant, as if she had achieved something no one else could have possibly done. Her mismatched eyes found Sherlocks cold gray ones and her face broke out in a happy smile.

"come here and give me a hug" she ordered him and he obeyed without a thought, when Sherlock leaned down to hug her and Jackie wrapped her small arms tightly around his neck she whispered into his ear "I missed you, have you been ok?"

Sherlock had to swallow against a sudden lump in his throat "yeah, yeah, I've been fine" he murmured and stood back up but Jackie's hand didn't release his while they watched Hyde present his own adopted parents with his blanket wrapped baby.

"mom, Red, I'd like you to meet Ruby Queenan Hyde" he told them proudly, only then did Sherlock notice that he blankets that wrapped the baby was indeed pink.

As the Forman's smiled and cooed over the baby – the cooing was all Kitty – they asked where the name had come from? Which Jackie obliged them by telling.

"Ruby is for you Mr., Forman, it's the closest to 'Red' we could agree on, and Queenan is Kings middle name too" she explained.

Sherlock who was standing beside King during this explanation gave her a curious look "your name is Kingsley Queenan?" he asked her stifling a smirk he knew would get him in trouble.

King slowly nodded her head that it was the truth "and you thought your parents sucked" she told him darkly.

Just about then little ruby began to fuss and squirm in Kitty's arms and was handed back to Hyde.

"oh darn, I was going to have Sherlock hold her" Jackie frowned sure that Sherlock wouldn't want to deal with a fussy infant.

"I don't mind" he said with a shrug

"are you sure?" Hyde asked all too aware that holding an angry baby wasn't the most pleasant experience.

"a little crying doesn't bother me; hell, Eric and Kick were louder the other day when I beat them at basketball" he pointed out

"ok then" Hyde said and gave Sherlock a one-armed hug before depositing the wriggling pissed off baby into his arms and arranging them so that he was supporting Ruby properly.

Then something peculiar happened, the crying and fussing ceased? Tiny deep blue eyes blinked up at Sherlock then shut and with a gurgling noise ruby fell peacefully asleep.

"see? She knows you're her big brother and she's safe with you" Jackie told him softly so as to not embarrass him.

Sherlock peered down at the sleeping baby in his arms "your safe, I'll make sure you're always safe" he promised ruby in a whisper.

When it was Eric and the others turn to visit Jackie and Hyde and Ruby, Sherlock stood out in the hall with King, his face was troubled and she was worried that he was about to run again.

"look kid, I've barely slept in two days so if you're planning on bailing again I'm out of well thought out arguments at the moment so just don't ok?" she said sounding as tired as she'd said she was.

"it's not that" Sherlock mumbled still staring at his boots thinking

"then what?" she asked curiously

"Ruby's a girl" he told her

"is that a problem?" King asked a bit surprised that would bother Sherlock

"girls date, girls are taken advantage of by horny sleazy guys" he said darkly

"well not always" king pointed out fairly

"but enough that it's not exactly rare" he countered

"true enough, so what's your point?" she asked interestedly

"that I'm probably going to end up killing someone someday" he told her flatly

King let out a bark of laughter at how protective he was of his sister already, when not two hours before he was trying to run away and never look back.

She clapped him on the shoulder comfortingly "well let's hope for the best there" she told him smiling her pirate smile that could be reassuring or terrifying depending on where you stood, Sherlock was standing in a good place.

Ruby Queenan Hyde entered the world in the early morning of a normal day in spring, she was 7lbs 8oz with deep blue eyes and a dusting of black hair already forming curls. From the day, she was born she was a mild tempered baby, but whenever she did get fussy or upset no one could calm her down quicker than her big brother lock – not even Jackie, and to a few people's surprise that didn't bother Jackie one tiny bit.

Whenever Jackie would be walking ruby around the living room at 3 am, bouncing her and humming softly to calm her for whatever reason she was crying, a high percentage of the time Sherlock would appear in the doorway, sleepy eyed and rumpled from sleep and wordlessly hold out his hands for ruby. Each and every time after the first time, Jackie would hand over her daughter to her adopted son (on the way to being legally adopted too) and watch with a satisfied little smile as Ruby stopped crying the moment she was in her brother's arms.

"go get some sleep mom" Sherlock habitually told her, and waited until he thought she was gone before he began to sing the song ruby loved best in a soft voice.

' _I just want to see you_

 _When you're all alone_

 _I just want to catch you if I can_

 _I just want to be there_

 _When the morning light explodes_

 _On your face, it radiates_

 _I can't escape_

 _Ill love you till the end_

 _I just want to tell you nothing_

 _You don't want to hear_

 _All I want is for you to say_

 _Why don't you just take me_

 _Where I've never been before_

 _I know you want to hear me_

 _Catch my breath_

 _I love you till the end_

 _I just want to be there_

 _When were caught in the rain_

 _I just want to see you laugh not cry_

 _I just want to feel you_

 _When the night puts on its cloak_

 _I'm lost for words don't tell me_

 _All I can say_

 _I love you till the end_

Sherlock never knew at the time, but nearly every night that he sang the same song to Ruby Jackie and Hyde would stand in their doorway out of sight smiling and certain in the knowledge that taking in Sherlock was not only the right choice, but clearly the only choice.

A/N so I have some explaining to do I know.

Firstly, I am sorry there has been such a long time between updates, that's not my usual way as many of you long time readers know. But I was out of town on vacation and didn't bring my laptop, but I am sorry.

Secondly before someone looks it up and tries to point out a mistake – I am fully aware that the pouges 'love you till the end' came out in the 90's and it is therefore impossible for someone in the 80's to be singing it, however, I always try to keep as close to factual as I can with the time frame but I was listening to p.s. I love you in the background when I was writing this chapter and it starts with that song, as a long time pouges fan it hit me how perfect the song was for Sherlock to sing to ruby to reaffirm how devoted he was to her, so I said fuck it and put it in any way! Its Fan fiction anyway so I feel like I'm allowed to on occasion warp the space time continuum for my own ends, and there are few more worthy things to do that for than the pouges.

Hope everyone likes this chapter, I had no idea where it was going until I started writing it so the fact that it made any sense at all is far more impressive than you might realize. Also, if anyone's still reading this, I know it's different than the original scene in 'things change', I didn't feel like going back and copying it so I just did it again – mia culpa.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N hello again, this chapter you are about to read is going to form as I write because I have absolutely no idea where this is going now and as usual it will (hopefully) come to me as I write. I'm not at all ready to end this story but at this time I'm not coming up with much to move forward with, so seriously if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Also, because of this I'm starting to think I'll be doing some time jumps – for all I know right now this could be one of them – like jump back to when Jackie and Hyde were younger and still in point place, I kind of like that chapter I did where he had a panic attack and I think it might be fun to do something else like that. Now for those of you who don't like that sort of thing…sorry? Anyway, let's all see where this chapter goes, and here's hoping it doesn't suck!

Hyde was restless like he was about to burst out of his skin if he didn't keep moving, he'd woken with a start at after three in the morning with the remnants of a nightmare swirling through his brain, but the details that woke him up were hazy and all he knew was that he felt uneasy now and had to get up.

Careful not to wake Jackie or two-month-old ruby sleeping next to her he climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen. For some reason his brain was saying that coffee was needed even though his body was screaming 'sleep'. While he was leaning on the counter watching the coffee drip too slowly into the pot for his current liking, a voice startled him.

"being up this late worrying is my bit dude" lock informed him dryly and took a seat at the small table with a look on his young face that Hyde knew meant he knew too much for him to try and lie about why he was up.

"adults worry Sherlock, its kid of our thing" he pointed out and gestured with a mug whether lock would also like a cup of coffee? The teenager nodded yes and sat staring at his foster father while he added half and half to each cup.

"I won't pry, 'cus I'm not a total dick, but I will ask what's wrong?" lock said curiously, since he had been living with them Hyde had been a picture of cool in the face of anything that occurred, it shook Sherlock a little to see him now looking unsettled and worried.

Hyde frowned thoughtfully as he set down their coffee and took a seat across from lock. while he considered whether he would answer or not, Hyde took in the details of the 16-year-old in front of him. Since he'd been sleeping Lock was shirtless – which was highly unusual – and the tattoos Hyde had glimpsed as well as the scars he had guessed at, were visible. He felt a wave of pure rage hit him when he laid eyes on the long thin scars marring Locks chest and shoulders - they were likely on his back as well – there was no punishment adequate for the people that had done this to him but Hyde was up for working through possible options.

The mohawk that Lock still preferred was no longer a moldy fading green, but a shade of red usually seen on fire engines, he still looked far too somber for someone his age but this was something Hyde understood better than most. Lock realized after a moment what Hyde was looking at and shifted uncomfortably, feeling exposed under the piercing gaze.

Lock was about to make a rude comment to Hyde to deflect attention off the scars he was so ashamed of because they were proof that he was damaged and unwanted, when Hyde began answering his question in a calm thoughtful voice.

"I had a bad dream and I guess it was bad enough to wake me up? I can't hold onto the details or really any of it, but I think it was something along the lines of I fell back into some old ways and everything I worked so hard to get was gone?" Hyde said frowning with the effort to recall enough of it to put into words.

Lock couldn't help being curious about what Hyde was talking about, he knew bits and pieces of his new family's past, but he knew the least about Hyde and so had no idea what 'old ways' would disturb him so much?

"will you tell me about it?" lock asked directly which made Hyde raise an eyebrow at him

"blunt, aren't you?" Hyde noted with a smirk

Lock merely shrugged "tact takes time, and right now I'm feeling too lazy to bother with it, I want to know what you were like back then that could give you a dream like that so I'm asking" he said unabashedly.

Hyde could respect the honesty and nodded approvingly "fair enough, although I have to admit I don't really want to tell you the gritty details of 'the life of Hyde' because it might make it harder for you to respect me and I don't want to lose that" he admitted candidly, hoping the disturbingly intelligent lock would understand what he meant.

"frankly, it's hard for me to respect anyone, but it's not too hard with you because I know that you had it rough - not to the extent I did – but you still made something of yourself, hell, you got Jackie to marry you and even I'll admit she's awesome" lock told him honestly

"she is that" Hyde said fondly with a small smile at the mention of his favorite person.

"ok here goes" Hyde began with a deep breath "there was a time not too long ago unfortunately, that I was what is generally known as a 'fall down drunk', my folks were drunks and I followed in their footsteps early on. We all drank back then; half our time was spent planning how to steel beer from red" Hyde said with a laugh at their antics in the days before things got complicated

"but for me it wasn't just a casual on occasion thing, it was all the time before I even realized it. Jackie was so patient about it, she never got pissed at me like I deserved, she would just gently distract me from drinking all the time, and for a long time I'd have a few beers but not get drunk, when that started to change jacks would just leave and come back the next day looking disappointed in me. Her folks were drunks too but she was smart enough not to risk becoming like them, and when I went to Vegas and married the stripper – "he didn't get to finish that sentence because Sherlock had spit out his mouthful of coffee and was currently staring wide eyed at Hyde.

"you married a stripper?!" he choked out in shock "and mom didn't break your legs and leave you to wild dogs?!" he seemed unable to believe Hyde could have survived committing such a grave crime.

"I wouldn't have blamed her if she had" Hyde admitted wryly "it's a long story of how I ended up in Vegas on a bender and thought I married a stripper – which turned out to be false thank god – and I really don't want to tell you about it because it's painful to remember, but it happened and I lost Jackie for a long time. My life went to total crap without her, and I turned into the worst version of myself, but through some kind of divine intervention or something I got a second chance with her and it scares the hell out of me that there's a possibility of losing her again, because now it's not just the only chick I ever loved that id lose, but you and your sister too" Hyde finally admitted the fear that had woken him up and put him in the kitchen with Sherlock in the first place.

"not to trivialize your struggle, but considering all the shit I saw before I came here being am alcoholic doesn't really shake the foundations of my world" lock told him in his usual dry fashion.

"I'm not sure if that's a relief or incredibly depressing?" Hyde told him somberly

"let's go with relief" lock chose for him amicably "look Hyde, maybe this will make you feel better" he began thoughtfully and sat back in his chair to consider how to start what he wanted to say, what he was about to do was no easy thing for him but he truly cared about his foster father and wanted a way to show Hyde that even though he couldn't call him 'dad' yet – it was just so much easier with Jackie – that that's what Hyde was in his mind.

"you and mom know what I was facing back in dog town, but that's just what made me run, and you know that my biological mom was a junkie, but that's just the tip of the iceberg really. The eleven years leading up to me bailing were never fun, and not just because of my old mom, where I come from is a rough place. And there's not a lot of hope of making something of yourself and getting out, if you've ever been truly hopeless you can understand what my normal state of being was back then. Most days I got the crap beat out of me and I was lucky if it was by my old mom because she was weak as shit, then I bailed and life didn't exactly get better it was just a different sort of hell."

Hyde didn't want to interrupt and risk Lock changing his mind about talking, but he was curious as to where this was going? He didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"when I was out there on my own I made a friend – one friend – a street kid who went by the name pebbles, and yes, I know it's a dumb name, from what I could gather she liked the Flintstones, anyway. She was the first person that I felt like actually gave a damn about me, she showed me how to make it without getting mixed up in the really bad stuff out there. We stuck together and moved from place to place and it was almost like having a family, she swore she would never bail on me because she said she loved me and I was her brother" Lock told him in a low tone and it was obvious what he was saying was difficult for him to get out.

Suddenly Locks hard gray eyes snapped up to meet Hyde's curious gaze.

"she died…. of a heroin overdose. She knew what I had run from and claimed she cared about me like family, and then she went and got mixed up in the same shit that made me have to live like that! She knew and she still chose it over me and left me all alone again! That hurt worse than anything my old mom ever did because I don't have a clear memory of loving my old mom, but I trusted pebbles when she said we were family and that she loved me. Every single person in my life that has claimed to love me or has been supposed to care has fucked me over royally!" Lock growled with a deep anger that Hyde understood personally.

He was about to ask the obvious question; did he still think he and Jackie were going to do the same thing to him? When Lock continued talking in a less furious tone.

"and then I met Jackie and you, and no matter what I do or how messed up I react, you two actually seem to still want me around, and now there's someone who looks at me and sees family – don't look so misty eyed I'm talking about ruby, she doesn't look at me and see a fucked up street kid who's trying hard to be a decent human being, all she sees is her brother who will do anything to make sure she's safe and happy and I will not disappoint her! And I will not allow one single speck of what I've seen this world has to offer get anywhere near her! Which includes worrying about her own parents, so if you feel like you might drink or whatever it is you go through, I don't really know? I don't care if it embarrasses you or what, you come get me and I'll sit through some boring ass meeting with you until you feel better!" he vowed defiantly, although Hyde wasn't sure what he was defying? Perhaps just a world that had given him such a poor start in it?

"I'm oddly touched, but I don't think it should be your problem to help deal with my problems, that's more stress than you need Sherlock" Hyde pointed out with genuine concern

But lock just rolled his eyes "a burden shared is a burden halved, were family, right? We help each other or what's the point?" he asked bluntly

All Hyde could do was nod his head that Sherlock was right.

"if it makes you feel better I don't think about wanting to drink hardly ever" Hyde tried to reassure Lock, the last thing he wanted to do was give the boy more to deal with, worrying about Hyde shouldn't be his problem.

At this statement, Sherlock actually laughed and gave Hyde a rare smile which made him look much younger than he generally appeared.

"I feel just fine, I know I can rely on you" he said in an offhand manner, but the real meaning was not lost on Hyde, even if he showed no sign of reacting, Sherlock had accepted being part of their family.

An old similar memory made a smile crack on Hyde's face "your mom said something very similar to me once a long time ago" he told Lock, oddly amused at the similarities of Jackie deeming him her protector when he'd shown literally no indication of being suitable for such a role.

"was this after you took her to a diner instead of the water tower?" Lock asked curiously, going off the story Jackie had told him awhile before.

But Hyde looked confused "what the hell are you talking about?" he asked Lock curiously

Lock relayed the story Jackie had told him about the moment she knew that Hyde loved and cared about her, then watched as Hyde burst into laughter until there were tears in his eyes.

"oh, she was way, way off!" Hyde managed to say through the laughter

"was it a lot later then?" Lock asked surprised that Jackie could have had it wrong.

"no, earlier – a lot earlier. And it wasn't some memorable incident that made me realize it either, I was sitting in the chair I always sat in watching TV like I always did and feeling so bored I was worried I might slip into a coma when she burst through the door like a tornado of color and attitude and picked a fight with me right off the bat because she didn't like whatever show it was that id been watching, I started arguing back because she really knew how to get on my nerves and out of nowhere it hit me – I loved it when she was there because it would wake me up, I loved arguing and bickering with her because she could actually match me shot for shot and not take it personally, I loved just being in her company because she and I always worked as a team even when we severely annoyed each other, see Sherlock – even when jacks had a boyfriend, she was always MY chick, she had my back and when a line was drawn in our group and sides taken I didn't have to doubt for a moment she would be on my side, from the moment we met I knew she was who I could rely on – she was my family" he told Lock with a grin

Sherlock didn't say anything for a long time, he just stared at Hyde like he was lost in his own thoughts, finally his eyes focus on Hyde again and he spoke in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.

"I'm glad you guys let me be your family too" he admitted with difficulty, then glared defiantly "but if you ever bring up that I said that I'm going to be extremely difficult to deal with" he growled ominously

But Hyde remained placidly grinning

"you already are Sherlock, you already are" he teased good naturedly

Sherlock opened his mouth to retort when his sharp ears caught the sound of Ruby's soft cries from down the hall.

"quick, get her before mom wakes up" Sherlock hissed to Hyde who was already moving towards the door to do just that.

A/N so that's what I came up with, I hope it isn't too disappointing? There were some parts of it that I really liked and others where I was just trying to work through a thought, on the upside I now have a vague notion of where it's going to go next, so that's nice. Let me know what you think and where you want to see this go because I'm open to suggestions.


	12. Chapter 12

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

With a groan of deep annoyance Lock rolled over and slammed his hand down on his bedside table repeatedly until finally he connected with the alarm clock.

"fuck" he mumbled sleepily and forced himself to roll out of bed – literally – in the kitchen Jackie was making breakfast for Sherlock and Ruby and smiled when she heard the familiar sound of her son forcing himself out of bed for school. Every day it was the same thing, Lock was not a morning person on a good day, he was far too prone to nocturnal wanderings to be a quick early riser.

He was at the point of sitting on the edge of his bed and scrubbing the sleep from his eyes when Jackie called down the hall that breakfast was ready.

Sherlock immediately stood and pulled his ragged jeans up, buckling his belt that had the first belt buckle Hyde had recently given him and then crossed to his dresser to pull out an undershirt and something acceptable for school, which was a lot harder than it sounded since his tastes leaned towards the 'unacceptable school attire' mentioned in the high school dress code.

When he finally dug out a navy-blue service station shirt that claimed his name was Dave, he headed down to the kitchen and straight to Ruby's High chair, she was 6 and a half months old now and could sit up and eat cheerios like a pro. At the sight of her brother a gurgling smile erupted on her chubby face and like always her arms shot out for him.

Lock didn't even think about it and pulled his baby sister out of her chair and sat with her on his leg both facing the table, Jackie gave him the usual 'don't spoil her too bad' look he got about 72 times a day and set his breakfast in front of him.

"thanks mom" he mumbled politely before scooping up a bit of oatmeal and holding it to Ruby's mouth, anything offered to her by Lock was trusted and therefore eaten daintily and without a fuss, when uncle Eric tried to feed her he ended up wearing a variety of pureed vegetable while losing a staring contest with a chubby, pink wearing, ringlet having infant with deep blue eyes.

"she has her own food honey" Jackie said out of habit, she really didn't care if he shared his food with Ruby because she thought it was adorable when they did this.

Currently Ruby was reaching her chubby little hand out trying to grab Locks toast while he gently blocked her attempt and gave her pieces of banana instead.

"is your test today?" Jackie asked curiously, she and Hyde had both been helping him study for a biology final but she'd been so busy with Ruby and the children shelter as well as a woman's shelter she'd been asked to help with in san Francisco a few times a week that her concept of time was all but gone.

"yes, yes, it is and I fully expect to just barely pass it through a mixture of luck and prayer" he informed her dryly

"I'm sure you'll be fine" Jackie told him with a smirk, he was too smart for his own damn good and they all knew it even if they rarely mentioned it.

Sherlock shrugged in response and went back to talking softly to Ruby about what they would each be doing that day, when he got to promising that they would watch a movie together when he got home from school if she'd taken her nap on time, Jackie had to wipe a tear from her eye.

Once a week at least, when Hyde had his late night at work – which was necessary – and Jackie was tired out from her work week, Sherlock would set himself and Ruby up on the couch with snacks they could both have and barricade them in a blanket nest while explaining the movie to her in a quiet voice, there were times when it appeared like Ruby was really listening to what he was telling her, but she probably just liked the sound of his voice.

"how late are you going to be today?" Lock asked Jackie idly, he knew today was her day to drive down to san Francisco to work at the fledgling women's shelter.

They contacted her because of her reputation of being able to get things off the ground when other people said it was impossible, and just as they'd hoped her tenacious disposition and flare for the work had their shelter well on its way to being stable after a few months. She knew who to contact and how to approach them to get what she needed, and there was just something about her that made people do what she wanted them to do. Just like Eric had hoped, she was using her powers for good instead of evil.

"I have no idea, I said I'd help work out the paper work for a few new woman and a couple long term cases, and then I need to contact a few of the job programs for a couple of the ladies that want to move on and get back on their feet so I could be pretty late today, are you sure you're okay with miss Ruby that long? I don't want to abuse your babysitting goodwill" she told him seriously, although he never acted put out to babysit however long he was needed, she and Hyde both worried that he would grow to resent it after a while, after all he was a 16-year-old boy and they couldn't help but think that he would rather be out with his friends or girls when he was home reading 'where the wild things are' for the 300th time.

"even if you hired another babysitter I'd still be here making sure they weren't some kind of freak, I don't mind hanging out with Ruby mom, we have fun so stop guilting out already" he told Jackie flatly, and she knew he was right,

Very early on they had hired a highly-recommended college girl Megan, to watch Ruby for two hours when their schedules conflicted just enough to need some help. Lock had gotten home unexpectedly early from school – because he'd ditched the last two periods – and walked in to the house only to find Ruby crying and the highly-recommended babysitter screaming at Ruby to shut up. Lock hadn't said a word when he approached the girl with an expression so dangerous she immediately shut up and looked terrified, but all he did was wordlessly pick up her bag and huck it out the front door then took her lightly by the shoulder and guide her outside while she attempted to explain that she'd just grown frustrated with Ruby's nonstop crying and he'd happened to walk in right at the breaking point, Lock hadn't been interested in her excuses and simply shut the door in her face.

"that girl called crying and apologizing 8 times you know? She swore up and down that you had misconstrued what had happened and she would never yell at a baby and to please not tell people because she would lose all her other clients" Jackie reminded him of the effects of that particular incident.

"fuck her, she was a dumb bitch, she claimed to be this stellar babysitter but couldn't handle a baby with colic? She deserved Max calling her parents and ratting her out" Lock growled, angry just remembering it.

"moving on, are you sure you're prepared for the test?" she changed the subject blatantly to avoid Lock getting too angry at the memory, he'd reacted like he'd failed Ruby somehow and Jackie didn't want that seeping back into his head.

"as prepared as I'm likely to be" he shrugged, and wiped some oatmeal off Ruby before she began chewing on his knuckle.

"well I hope you do well but even if you don't its cool" she reminded him pointedly, they had both spent a lot of time explaining to him that they were proud of him when he got good grades but he wasn't in trouble if he didn't.

"everyone's got something to prove mom" he responded automatically the same way he did every time she tried to say this.

"who exactly are you proving it too though?" Jackie asked curiously

"I'm not really sure? But I figure I'll know when I see them" he said casually

"I'm not entirely sure that's a healthy way of looking at things? But then again, so long as your happy I don't really care" she admitted honestly,

Lock laughed shortly at this while watching Ruby still chewing on his knuckle and holding onto his wrist with both hands and her expression intent, both Lock and Ruby looked up sharply when there was a flash of light and a familiar clicking noise, Jackie had shamelessly taken yet another picture of them in a candid moment – her favorite one so far was when they'd both fallen asleep on the couch, Ruby on Locks chest with their mouths open identically, a large black and white copy hung over the living room fire place, which Lock dutifully pretended to hate.

"you really need to stop doing that" he told Jackie wearily

"never!" she declared firmly, then unlatched Ruby from his arm and sent him to get his school bag as it was time to leave.

They pulled up to his school and Lock gave Jackie a quick hug before turning to Ruby in the back seat.

"give uncle Kick hell baby doll" he told her with a smile reserved only for Ruby and leaned over to kiss her forehead "I'll pick you up as soon as I can" he promised the baby

"good luck on your test honey, I'm sure you'll do great" she assured him with total and honest confidence in his abilities to answer the impending multiple choice questions.

"thanks" he said with a small smile before getting out of the car and weaving through the crowds of other kids without acknowledging any of them.

Jackie worried about this side of Sherlock, the one which had no interest making more than three friends at school, he had Matt and Tim and she really loved them – but she wanted him to have a broader support network, she wanted more people to know how incredible her son was and for him to know how amazing it was to have the sort of friends she and Steven had. But for now, she was just happy that he hadn't gotten in a fight for two months, it was the small victories.

Sherlock took his usual seat in class and glanced over at his seat mate Allison, she was popular and beautiful and she had crossed Sherlocks mind more than once, it helped that she flirted with him constantly. But today she was firmly blocked from his mind, he wanted to do as well as he could on his final, to show that all Jackie and hides hard work with him was paying off, although he would never admit that was the reason.

"hey Sean" Allison said in a voice he recognized as flirtatious mostly from all the movies he watched.

"Lock" he reminded her shortly, there was no degree of hotness that made being called Sean palatable.

"you are so funny!" she giggled and touched his shoulder for emphasis, Lock turned to her with a raised eyebrow, she was acting odd and that was the first time she'd gone so far as actually touching him?

"no" he said calmly "I'm not"

This just made her giggle again which confused him more, what the hell had he walked into?

To locks infinite relief the teacher called the class to order before Allison could say anything else, and their test were handed out along with the instructions. Lock forgot all about Allison's weird behavior and focused on his test, relief washed over him when he saw that the questions on the test were ones he had studied for.

When the test was over and he was gathering his stuff, he caught site of Allison turning towards him with a look like she had something to say, but before she could another girl in class whose name he didn't know called out his own.

"hey Sherlock, you got a minute?" the non-descript girl asked in a bored voice.

"sure, I guess" he answered just as blankly and followed her into the hall, catching a flash of the pout that had formed on Allison's face at missing a chance to talk to him?

He had no fucking idea what was going on or how whatever it was had changed since he left school Friday? Hopefully whoever this girl was would shed some lite on it.

And she did "so, I know we don't know each other but you don't seem to be too big of a tool so I figured I'd give you the heads up that Allison and her douchbag boyfriend rick "broke up" over the weekend cus he was all over some other chick at a party, I used air quotes because I have been going to school with them for two years and they've "broken up" about 18 times in those two years" she told him looking about as interested in Allison and Ricks relationship as she would be a documentary on the mating habits of termites.

"well as riveting as that is, you're telling me about it because?" he asked waiving her to get to a point if there was one

She rolled her eyes in annoyance "because fuck head – she ALWAYS picks some poor sap to use to make Rick jealous and I'll give you one guess who the lucky sap is this time" she said irritably

Suddenly it all fell together and Sherlocks face twisted into a grimace "the scary new kid?" he guessed through clenched teeth, the fucking nerve of her trying to use him he thought darkly, he'd been nice to her and she repays that by picking him as a rube in her dumbass drama!

"from the sounds of it yeah" he informer said with a shrug

Sherlock felt a rage building in his chest "who are you? And how do you know about this?!" he said more rudely than he meant to, but he was pretty pissed off by this point.

"hey back the hell off, I was just trying to help you out! I heard about it when I heard her telling her friends her plan at the café I work at, they apparently didn't recognize me from class so kept talking while I served them their diet tabs….fucking nasty, and since you haven't gone out of your way to be a dick weasel to me I figured I'd warn you" she explained with a hard edge to her voice and a dangerous glint in her eyes that he noticed absently were a strange shade of hazel.

"sorry, I shouldn't have talked to you like that, umm…. what's your name again?" he asked awkwardly, he was fairly sure he'd never heard it in his life.

His whistle blowing advocate stared at him for a moment still looking angry that he'd snapped at her when she was just trying to be nice, "I'm Harley – I'm in three classes with you" she said flatly, clearly offended that he had no recollection of her.

"Harley's a different name" he noted absently, to gloss over offending him.

"no shit Sherlock" she said bitingly and walked off, she'd done what she meant to and it seemed he'd been a big enough moron that she chosen to be done sooner rather than later.

He was watching her walk away, curious as to why people melted out of her path? When Allison spotted him, and used his distraction to corner him.

"hey Sean, I was thinking that if you asked really nice I'd let you take me to the movies" she said while twisting a lock of hair around her finger and giving him what she clearly considered a coy smile.

"I'm babysitting my sister tonight" he told her honestly in a neutral tone

This earned him another pout "can't you get someone else to do it? I promise going out with me will be a lot more fun than watching some brat" she purred suggestively.

Lock straightened to his full height and gave Allison a look that would have scared grown men.

"trying to use me to make your ex jealous I can ignore, but you every speak about my sister again and you won't like what happens" he hissed dangerously, Allison could only stare back at him after he said this and was still frozen in place when lock strode away to find matt and tim.

They were in the first place he looked just as he'd expected, sitting under a tree outside the school practicing guitar, from the look on Tim's face lock surmised it wasn't going well – again.

He threw the guitar into the grass with a groan of frustration just as lock sat down across from them. Tim looked up with a pleading expression.

"dude will you please ask King if she'll give me lessons!" he begged for the hundredth time

"again dude, ask her yourself" Lock gave the normal response

"lock man, there's scary intimidating and then there's King, I need an introduction or something" Tim said seriously, he and matt were in awe of his mom's best friend and were too afraid to take any of locks invitations to functions she would be at.

"fine, come to the BBQ in two weeks and I'll see if I can help" he agreed, tired of hearing about it, besides he figured King wouldn't mind meeting his friends even if they were dorky super fans.

"hey, do either of you know a chick that goes here named Harley?" he asked casually to avoid getting shit for asking about a girl.

Both his friends looked up with matching wide eyed looks at the mention of her name, but said nothing which annoyed Sherlock.

"what?! Tell me or I swear I will tell King you're both into the eagles!" he threatened ruthlessly, this got the reaction he was hoping for and Tim finally spoke.

"I'm pretty sure you're talking about Harley Collins and if you are talking about Harley Collins, you need to be done talking about Harley Collins" he told lock seriously

"and why is that Tim?" lock asked

"because her dads a bona fide criminal, and it's not safe to get mixed up with her" matt finally joined the conversation with some pertinent information.

"what kind of criminal?" his curiosity was piqued he had to admit, she seemed awfully decent for someone raised by criminals

"a hells angel, like a high up one or whatever it is?" Tim shared but seemed unsure of the details.

"huh" Sherlock said to himself, that was interesting, he decided that Harley might be worth getting to know a little better.

He was thinking of ways to talk to her again when he got home and saw that the driveway was full of cars? It should have been empty which sent a shot of pure fear through his heart. Lock rushed towards the front door to find out what had happened when the door flew open and an irate Kingsley stormed out and got into her car without a word and pealed out down the road, before Lock could process that happening Connor was out the door screaming her name down the street uselessly.

When there was finally a moment of silence Lock heard, Jackie crying through the open front door, and everything disappeared from his head in the rush to see what had happened to make his mom cry.

Inside he found Jackie curled on the couch sobbing with Kick trying desperately to comfort her, Connor came back inside and headed to the garage where a cacophony of crashes and curses was issuing, in a panic Sherlock rushed to Ruby's room afraid something had happened to her, he sighed with a relief to deep to describe when he found her asleep in her rarely used crib with Eric seated nearby looking grim.

"what's going on?" Lock whispered terrified of the answer.

"I can't be the one to tell you Lock, I'm sorry" Eric said regretfully,

Lock turned around and headed to find someone who would or could tell him what the hell had happened?! He stopped and gave Kick a questioning look, his blue haired uncle jerked his head towards the garage and whatever was happening in there, while he hugged Jackie tightly and assured her it was ok.

Lock was torn, wanting to be the one to console his mom but also wanting answers he didn't think she was up to giving just then. He went to the garage and threw the door open, inside was a disaster of wreckage with Hyde in the epicenter having a violent break down. Max and Connor were trying to stop him and calm him down, but he was too far gone, Lock felt his stomach sink.

"what's going on?! Hyde what's happening?!" Lock yelled urgently, he could feel his own panic starting to rise.

But Hyde didn't seem to hear him and began beating his hands against the wall and howling with a pain Lock couldn't imagine, not even stopping when his fists and the wall were covered in blood. Max and Connor tried to grab him but in his anguished state Hyde somehow threw them off?

Without a thought for his own safety Lock ran at Hyde and grabbed him by the wrists to stop him hurting himself anymore

"what happened?!" he screamed desperately

"what happened? What happened is that because I'm a worthless fucking piece of shit that goddamn stripper I ruined my fucking life with showed up at Jackie's new shelter and said a bunch of fucked up shit to jacks that really upset her! And now she's in there crying and probably realizes she'd be better off without a husband like me! And King got pissed and took off and we don't know where! And it's all my stupid worthless white trash loser fault!" Hyde screamed desolately, holding his head and making a sound between a sob and a growl that was unnerving to hear.

Sherlock had no idea what to do in such a situation to help? So, he went with his instincts and slapped Hyde sharply across the face to snap him out of whatever sort of breakdown this was. When Hyde blinked, and looked at Sherlock, finally seeing it was his son there witnessing how he was acting his ice blue eyes filled with tears and he pulled Sherlock to him hugging him tightly and saying over and over that he was sorry.

"I get it all being too much to handle, I don't hold it against you dad" Sherlock promised quietly and hugged his father back tightly.

"thank you" Hyde whispered hoarsely

Max and Connor quietly left to give them some privacy, and Hyde was beginning to breath normally again when Jackie appeared in the doorway, her face was tear stained and her eyes puffy but Hyde looked at her like he'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

"I don't know how to fix this doll" he told her desperately

Jackie looked genuinely puzzled at this comment "why would you think there was something to fix?" she asked him confused.

Hyde stared at her blankly "cus Sam…and you were crying… and my fault…" he couldn't seem to form a full sentence.

Jackie went to Hyde and threw her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest, he only hesitated a second before wrapping his arms around her.

"dumbass" she said sharply "I forgave you for Sam a long time ago and I meant it! I was crying because she was really nasty to me and it brought back a lot of things I've tried hard to forget none of which involved you! And then I was crying because you freaked out and that worried and scared me – for you!" she told him firmly and a little annoyed he hadn't bothered asking her before blaming it all on himself like usual.

"I'm so sorry doll" Hyde told her dejectedly and kissed the top of her head

"well put it in another list then puddin' cus right now we should probably figure out where King went" Jackie told him seriously

"shit" Hyde said, his eyes going wide.

With a swiftness that spoke of practice, Sherlock was nominated to stay which the two kids while the others split up and went to look for King who had left looking furious after Jackie told her what had happened at the shelter, he was told that they would all be calling every half hour to check if she'd turned back up. Sherlock promised to do what they asked and when Hyde apologized again for losing it in front of him, Sherlock awkwardly cast his eyes to the ground.

"I never expected you to be perfect dad, I still respect you" he murmured without meeting Hyde's eye, Hyde pulled him into another tight hug before following Jackie to the el Camino and leaving to find their friend.

Four hours after Sherlock got home and found the house exploding in confusion the phone rang again, he'd answered it so many times his response was now 'still nothing'. But this time he was greeted with the response.

"Sherlock is that you?" in Kings calm voice

"King?! Where are you everyone's out looking for you" he told her both panicked and relieved to hear from her.

"that's sweet of them, how often are they checking back with you?" she asked, seeming to be familiar with the system they were using.

"every half hour, their due to call in the next ten minutes or so" he answered dutifully

"perfect, when they do could you be a dear and tell them that I'm in the 5th precinct station in san Francisco and since I luckily got a fast arraignment I am eligible to be bailed out and that the bail amount is $500 and that Connor should use the money from my savings account in the hollow book for it?" she asked in a completely casual unworried voice at odds with the information she was relaying.

"you're in jail? For what?" he couldn't help but ask after jotting down her instructions.

"assault and battery" she said offhandedly

Sherlock couldn't believe it "you beat someone up? Who?" he was too curious to let it pass

"I may have tracked down the stripper and shown her how bad of an idea it is to make my friend cry" King said in an overly casual tone

"cool" was all Lock could think to say to this and promised to relay the message to whoever called in first.

Which turned out to be Kick, who's response to hearing King was in jail for beating up Hyde's stripper ex was "dammit! We should have guessed that!"


	13. Chapter 13

I own nothing as per usual

A/N so this chapter is a little different than I usually do, at least I think it is? I don't re read my stuff as much as I probably should so there's a chance that I've done something similar and forgot. At any rate, this idea popped in my head this morning and I decided it fit into what's been happening enough to run with it, I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone but the thing I realized recently is that with 'things change' I had an end in mind from the start, but with this one I don't so it kind of is just going to keep going as long as I can think of anything, which is why I always say I'm open to suggestions, the last chapter held many things that were suggested by Idiaz054, id considered a few of them already but hearing that someone wanted to see them made me go with it. It's easier to write when you know there's interest but I don't like to beg for reviews, although I do appreciate them very much, but with this one please let me know what you think about the foray into different territory.

San Francisco California spring of 1974

It had been a normal day when she'd woken up and begun getting ready for school. Maybe she was a little more tired than normal? Maybe her elitist teachers were a little more pedantic? Maybe her classmates a little more rude and hostile? But for whatever reason, while she was sitting in her modern musical theory class (which she already loathed), a snide comment from the girl seated next to her claiming that someday they'd be talking about her in the class, pushed her almost the breaking point that had been boiling to the surface for weeks…maybe months.

"I bet you think they'll be talking about you in this class someday don't you Kingsley?" she smirked

She turned with a swish of long strawberry blond hair, to stare coldly at the other girl

"it'd be a lot more likely then you earning a mention Gretchen, tell me, how is your 'totally original' rock opera coming along?" she drawled with condescension dripping from every syllable, her own smirk making Gretchen's pale in comparison. There were a lot of reasons she didn't have friends at her school, but the main was her total lack of modesty about her abilities.

"you think your so much better than all of us! Well you may be a prodigy Kingsley but that doesn't change that you and your parents are straight up white trash and we can all smell it a mile away" she hissed haughtily at Kingsley, moments before her head snapped backwards sharply from Kingsley cold cocking her in the face for her insult.

The next moments were a blur of kids and teachers shouting, and multiple hands pulling her off Gretchen, who was on the floor screaming while Kingsley rained down blows on her face. It was no secret that any mention of Kingsley's parents would inevitably set the already angry girl off, especially bringing up their social status – or lack thereof.

Kingsley was ashamed of her parents and their low life friends, their drunken scenes in almost every business in town, their money grubbing frivolous law suits against jobs they'd been fired from or places they claimed to have been injured at. She wasn't like them! She would never be like them! And every time anyone claimed she was the same as them she saw red and everything went blank.

When she regained her senses, she was in the principal's office (this was familiar territory given her short temper) and she was already halfway through her usual speech about 'wasted potential' and 'achieving the level she was obligated to, with talent like hers' when Kingsley shook her aching head and forced herself to stand. Normally she would sit sullenly and listen to the principals long condescending speech without speaking, but today she just couldn't stand it, for the same unknown reason she couldn't suffer Gretchen's taunting silently, she couldn't tune out the bullshit Ms. Turner was spouting.

"do you hear yourself?" Kingsley asked harshly "do you hear yourself telling a 16-year-old they owe you and the school something because they have a talent you want to exploit?! Believe me if I could let you drain it out of me and keep it I would if it meant I never had to see or hear any of you fucking pathetic wannabes ever again!" she snarled furiously at the haughty pretensions woman.

"you would do well to learn to control yourself before you go to Julliard miss MacGregor! Being a prodigy will only take you so far there, when you are blessed with a gift such as yours you have a responsibility to foster it and give it to the world, how arrogant to thinks it is just your own!" she cried slapping her hand on the desk, her face going red with anger and her cold gray eyes flashing at the willful girl before her.

Kingsley stared at the furious woman with something between shock and disbelief, how dare she say Kingsley was beholden to the world because of how she was born?! The incredible nerve of her to believe a genetic quirk gave them a right to dictate Kingsley's whole life!

Still standing before the ornate desk of Ms. Turner, Kingsley took a deep breath to gain control of herself enough to say what she now knew was the only thing she could say.

"fuck this place and fuck you! I'm done!" she said so coldly Ms. Turner involuntarily sat back in her chair.

Before she could respond to the angry short girl who was the totem they used to secure so much funding for the school, losing Kingsley would be a crippling blow both financially and prestige, no other school like theirs could brag a student of Kingselys caliber.

"consider what you're saying miss MacGregor! Throwing away your entire future is a not a decision you should make lightly in the heat of a temper tantrum!" she said angrily

Kingsley just flashed that maddening smirk at her and gave her the finger before walking out the door.

When it was reported to her that she didn't show up to the rest of her classes that day, the reality of what Kingsley meant began to sink in, Ms. Turner made the obligatory call to the parents then held her head in her hands while she tried to figure out how she would handle the ramifications of losing their poster child prodigy, the trustees were going to be pissed.

When Kingsley finally made it home after the two-hour bus ride and the mile walk to her house, she'd had time to think over what she'd done, she'd just tanked her future as a classical musician that much was clear. There was no room in the major orchestras for a problem child no matter how good they were – or so they claimed – and she wasn't too sure what other job opportunities were out there for a teenager who could play Bartok's sonatas from memory on the violin, or Rachmaninoff on the piano?

If she hadn't been so distracted with this thought she might have remembered that the school would have surely called her parents to tell them what had happened, and that her useless awful parents would not have taken it well – they hadn't.

She was bombarded the moment she set foot in the dirty rundown house about how she'd ruined all their plans and a hundred other accusations about her letting them down when she owed them so much.

Everyone thought she owed them something, they all spoke as if her inborn talent made her beholden to all she met. Her life hadn't been her own since Mrs. Lancaster had realized in Thursday music class in fifth grade that Kingsley was not just advanced but unbelievable, and they'd set about ripping her choice in her life away from her, well she was done with it all.

After the showdown with her parents that devolved into the usual brutality, Kingsley stood in the bathroom surveying the damage to her face – black eye forming, lip split but the bleeding had slowed finally – and knew with more certainty than she'd ever felt before, that she had to get out of there.

As silently as she could, Kingsley slipped back into her room and looked around for what she couldn't bear to leave behind. After careful consideration, the list turned out to be a pair of jeans she hadn't worn out quiet yet and a stack of cassette tapes her cousin had sent her, then her eyes fell on the acoustic guitar that her Gran had lent her, it had belonged to her grandad and meant a lot to her Gran….

It landed with a soft thump on the ground outside her window after she'd tossed it as gently as possible out the window, she followed behind with a less graceful landing and after dusting off all the dirt on her ass Kingsley picked up the guitar case, shifted the backpack on her shoulder and took off at a brisk pace away from her house and Campbell all together.

A couple hours of busking outside the bus station made her enough to get the ticket to the only place she could think of to go, and it was well past dark when she reached the haphazardly painted house she'd been heading for.

Biting her lip Kingsley reached up and knocked on the door, she waited and no one came to answer. She figured she hadn't been heard over the loud music playing inside and knocked again – louder this time. Finally, the heavy door opened and before her was a handsome guy a bit older than her with Elvis like hair and a lit cigarette in his mouth, he looked at her like he was waiting for an explanation as to why she was standing there?

"is Ken home?" she asked looking at her feet to hide her face

"who the hell are you kid?" the guy asked bluntly not at all interested in dealing with a random teenager who'd shown up at his door.

"could you just get Ken please?" Kingsley asked truculently, refusing to meet his gaze.

He stared silently at her for a long moment before going back inside and closing the door, Kingsley was resigning herself to sleeping on the porch for the night and talking to Ken in the morning when she heard the guys voice yell over the loud music.

"Kick there's someone at the door for you!"

"who?" she heard yelled back

"I don't fucking know! Some chick!" the first guy yelled back sounding bored already with the whole thing.

There was a crash from inside like a lamp fell over, and the music shut off before the door opened again and this time a shirtless guy with blue hair falling into his eyes and a pissed off expression stood in the door frame staring down at her for an explanation for the intrusion. A girl in slightly more clothes than himself, hung to his arm accusing him of inviting girls over to cheat on her!

"who the fuck is you and what are you doing here?!" he growled threateningly

The unwelcoming tone was the last straw Kingselys nerves could take that day and her dark blue eyes were full of tears when she looked up into the face of her cousin.

"uh, hi Ken" she murmured with a sniff and wiped her eyes painfully due to the black eye.

The angry look melted of his face when he recognized her and immediately he shook the pouting girl off his arm and went to her "king? What happened to you honey?" he asked in a soft concerned voice

She considered his worried face and just couldn't handle it anymore, she burst into tears and Ken didn't hesitate to pull her into a hug and assure her it was all ok – whatever it was.

"Kick what the fuck are you doing?!" the girl demanded angrily

"shut the fuck up Sheila! This is my cousin" he snapped irritably and pulled Kingsley inside out of the chilly night air.

Sheila left in a huff hurling words like 'lost forever' at Kick as she went, but he didn't seem to care. Once inside he led Kingsley to the ratty old couch and had her sit down, that's when he saw what had been done to her, that's when he felt a familiar rage rise in his chest.

"what happened to you King?" he asked in a tightly controlled voice, not wanting to upset her further.

Hesitantly Kingsley told him about school and what happened when she got home, by the time she was done telling Ken (who apparently went by Kick now?) all that had happened, his normally jovial face was hard and angry. He turned away to yell for his friend who'd answered the door.

"Max get your ass over here!" he ordered with no room for argument, Max obliged and stood in front of them waiting for Kick to explain.

"you remember my cousin King, right?" Kick asked him

Max raised an eyebrow "this is King, the little girl with the pig tails that always followed you around?" Max said managing to sound aloof and surprised at the same time.

"yeah, look man, I got to make a few calls but I want you to stay with King while I do" kick told him seriously and stood up gesturing to max to fill the now vacant spot next to King, who was staring at the floor lost and miserable.

"uh, hey King do you remember me?" he asked awkwardly

"should I?" she said sounding tired

"I'm Max, I lived next door to Kick and his parents back in Campbell" he explained

King looked up at him to try and place the name with a face and saw Max's eyes widen when he saw her face which had been covered by darkness when he'd answered the door.

"you used to help me fix my bike" King said softly

"yeah, yeah that was me" he confirmed absently, still staring at her face,

"you can stop staring at me now" she told him flatly, she didn't want or need pity

"that seems unlikely" Max said truthfully

"please?" King asked sounding very young and very scared suddenly

Max pulled her into an awkward hug and hoped Kick would return soon.

"ok well that was an experience" Kick said heavily when he rejoined them, giving max a curious look for having his arms around his cousin.

"what'd you do?" Max asked his friend curiously, there were few things that Kick considered sacred so literally anything was possible with him.

"well I called my dad and told him his brother is a piece of shit, then I called my uncle the piece of shit and told him he's a piece of shit, and that I would not allow King to return there, then my dad called me back and told me that after a few threats and some black mail he got my uncle to turn King over to my care, so surprise! We have a new roommate!" he cried with enthusiasm

"and where is she going to live?" Max asked logically

"well since Connors not home yet to vote – his room" Kick said with a wicked grin at their other roommate's expense

"I second that motion" Max said with a grin

"what're we voting on?" a new voice asked from the door

Three sets of eyes snapped to look up at the new comer and saw a well-built man with broad shoulders and a confused expression standing there looking at them.

"hey Connor, come meet my cousin Kingsley!" Kick yelled with false excitement to cover up having just given away Connors room

Connor shrugged and came over to meet his friend's cousin, but stopped short when he saw that the cousin was not only a girl (he'd always thought the King Kick mentioned was a guy) but that someone had done something terrible to her.

"what happened to you darlin'?" he asked shocked by her bruises

"nothing" King muttered, sick of the looks of pity already

Connor crouched down at eye level with her and gently lifted her face by the chin to meet his eye.

"whatever it was you don't need to be worrying about it now darlin', us three won't let anything happen to you, you're Kicks family which makes you our family too, she's staying with us right Kick?" he asked surely and turned to the shocked face of Kick for confirmation.

"uh…yeah Connor, she's going to stay" he told him

"cheers, see there darlin' it's all fine, you'll be safe here I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you ever again" Connor told her seriously, he might not know her but he didn't allow anyone to harm women.

King didn't know what to say she was so overwhelmed with how kind they'd all been, she threw her arms around Connors neck and buried her face in his broad shoulder, a look of amazement came over Connors face at this action, but soon enough he wrapped his strong arms around her comfortingly, the matching amused smirks on Kick and max's face drew his attention but he shot a dark scowl at them. Just because he was comforting a girl didn't mean he was interested in her!

Although he had to admit that he'd never seen eyes like those before, and he wasn't opposed to the way it felt to hold her.

"this is your home now King, we've got your back" Kick told her softly, but firmly

-Present day-

After Sherlock, dutifully relayed Kings message the others could pick her up and bail her out in time to be home for dinner, with none of them feeling up to cooking that evening they brought home a stack of pizza boxes and sat at the table in awkward silence, none of them wanted to be the one to break the silence.

Finally, it was King who got bored with the standoff and scanned the people seated around the table for a likely source of conversation.

Connor was still upset that she'd left without saying where she was going although it didn't seem to bother him she'd gone off and thrown the stripper around like a rag doll?

Max was also put out with her for going and doing something so reckless and dangerous and not bringing him along, they seemed to have one of their many agreements on this very subject and she was in considerable trouble for ignoring the protocol they'd agreed on years before.

Kick was the physical embodiment of Switzerland at the moment and refused to take a side either way, to put it bluntly – he didn't care enough about what had occurred to bother getting involved, he wasn't in the habit of telling King what she should or shouldn't do and he wasn't about to start over something so like his own actions in the past.

Eric was sitting in his chair chewing his food, lost in thought. It was easy to read that he was worried about his brother after his reaction to his past showing up out of nowhere led to a mammoth break down, on the one hand he'd been expecting something like that to happen at some point and it was almost a relief to have it out of the way, on the other it was always hard for Eric to see Hyde lose it and it made it harder that this time he'd had no idea what to do or how to help?

Jackie was still dealing with whatever it was Hyde's ex had said to her and the pain in her eyes made everyone treat her with extra care.

Hyde looked downright tortured and more than a little humiliated by how he had reacted, but hearing that Jackie had run into Sam at her work and that Sam had said some truly vile things to Jackie about the past when she had been so very lonely and lost had made Hyde truly believe that all they had worked towards and all they had built had fallen apart with the reminder of their worst time.

Finally, her dark blue eyes landed on Sherlock, of all of them he seemed the least upset at what had transpired in that bleak hour. Sure, he wasn't exactly laughing and smiling – unless it was towards Ruby who sat beside him – but he didn't look as gloomy as the rest, so King decided he was her best option to relieve the silent tension in the room.

"so, Lock, how was school today?" she asked lightly, it wasn't an out of the ordinary thing for her to ask him about thankfully, so his expression was normal when he answered.

"decent, it started out kind of weird but I recognized most of the questions on my biology final so I have a pretty good feeling about passing" he told her conversationally while simultaneously retrieving Ruby's bottle from the ground for the sixth time in ten minutes

"that's awesome kid! But why was it weird to start with?" she asked out of concern but also hoping to make the atmosphere around her less heavy.

Lock explained about Allison and the whole thing with her, just hearing that he'd been dealing with a girl at school made Kick and Eric perk up at an opportunity to give Lock a hard time about girls and just maybe ruffle his ever-present calm.

"so, she wanted to use you to make her boyfriend jealous? Please tell me you agreed and found out what all the fuss is about?!" kick cried and grabbed locks arm in a gesture of hopefulness.

Lock informed him that he hadn't and had in fact chosen to tell her to get lost, but then he mentioned Harley, and something about the look on his face when he said her name made every one of them sit up and take notice. The whole lot of them were openly staring at lock until he finally asked why?

"is there a reason you're all giving me those weird smiles, and if there is do I want to know what it is?" he asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously

"you really did meat a girl!" Kick said smiling widely at him

"I've met many girls, there are more women on the planet than men so it would be pretty strange if I'd never met one" Lock pointed out slowly like you would to a small child.

"no, no no, what my dear friend here means is – you met a GIRL! We know that look you have there buddy and even if you haven't figured it out we all know what that means" Max informed him bluntly

"she gave me a heads up and then got pissed at me for acting like a jerk, it wasn't what you would call traditionally romantic" Lock pointed out hoping that the chagrin he felt for how it had played out didn't show on his face to the overly observant bunch still staring at him.

"but it bothers you that she got pissed off at you" King said with a shrug

"well strangely I don't really like acting like a jackass" Lock defended himself

"calm down honey, all were saying is that – there are times when you meet someone and you can just tell right away that there's something there even if the circumstances seem different than what you'd expect them to be" Jackie explained patiently

"I was rude, she got mad – it's pretty cut and dry that it ends there" Lock said irritably, which did not help his case that it was a non-event and they were reading too much into it.

"Lock, when I first met Kings she put a cigarette out in my crotch, and I never stopped thinking about her from that moment on" Connor told him with a grin, trying to show him that first meetings often didn't go smoothly but that didn't mean there was nothing there.

"hey now! You had that coming" King defended her past action firmly

Connor stared at her in disbelief "all I did was ask if you could play 'dust in the wind'!" he cried indignantly

King nodded her head emphatically "and that was deserving of what I did! That song is terrible!" she declared strongly

"you still had the option of just saying that instead of grinding your cigarette out on the zipper of my pants! Oh! And let's not forget that then you got up and looked right at me while you kicked my beer over intentionally!" Connor cried with righteous volume

"I was very young and hadn't yet learned to express my emotions" King said placidly

"you were stark raving mad!" Connor countered

"cut me some slack, I didn't know how to behave around you then" she admitted with a crooked smile

"and whys that?" Connor demanded a little irritably, it seemed that he was expecting a belated apology for how she treated him now that he knew she loved him, like perhaps she regretted what she'd done?

"you were really cute and it made me nervous, I act poorly when I'm nervous" she said without embarrassment for her past self

"so, were you also nervous when you dipped all his boxer shorts in stale beer and put them in the freezer?" Max asked curiously, but there was a definite amused glint in his eye.

"well that may have been retaliation for having to witness him almost dry humping that wannabe groupie on our couch at the Halloween party" King mused while looking at the ceiling to keep from laughing

"I did not!" Connor claimed loudly

His band mates all gave him the same level and totally disbelieving look "you did too!" they said in unison

"I don't remember it that way" Connor denied

"dude I was there, you went from being totally normal to drinking a heroic amount of whiskey and made out with a chick dressed like a slutty Dalmatian!" Kick reminded him loudly of his past discretion

"there was a bit more to it than that" Connor informed him calmly

"there's a doggy joke in there somewhere, I'm sure of it" Max said thoughtfully

This comment earned him a dark glare from his massive Irish friend

"even if there is keep it to yourself" Connor advised "and not that it's any of your business but there were some contributing factors to my actions" Connor told them all pointedly

"you were drunk and horny?" Kick guessed brightly, ever the diplomat.

The look this earned him from Connor - who was losing his patience with them all very quickly – made even Kick shut up. When he began to speak, his accent was more than evident in the low flat tone he used.

"or maybe since the moment I held some crazy runaway in my arms I couldn't get her out of my brain, and I had to do some stuff I regret to keep away from her" he countered staunchly

King stared at him with a strange look on her face as she recalled the night she came to their house after leaving her terrible life behind.

"damn that was a good answer" Max whispered to Kick

"it has the benefit of being true, remember what they were like back then? God, it was embarrassing how bad they had it for each other" Kick agreed in a low but audible tone

"we can hear you Kick" King pointed out

"don't care King, you two were ridiculous and if either of you had just stepped up and told us you liked the other I would have allowed you to date innocently before she was 18" Kick dropped on them like a nostalgic atomic bomb.

With a groan, Connor dropped his head to the table mumbling something about being a coward and losing so much time. King still hadn't said anything but looked at the three men so upset with her for taking off and getting thrown in jail with a look of contrite regret.

"I'm not sorry I went and beat the hell out of that Sam chick, she was vile to Jackie and ill fuck up anyone who talks to her like that! But I am truly sorry that I left without a word and made you all worry, I don't say it often – and I'm not going to start – but you're all really important to me and I love you" she said softly and earnestly, which robbed them of their anger and smoothed over the whole thing buy reminding them that though they all made mistakes from time to time, they were a family and families were about love and understanding.

A/N I missed King so I wrote about King, that's pretty much it, let me know what you thought


	14. Chapter 14

I own nothing

Sherlock watched in wonder as the fervor died down among the people he now called family, all the anger and sorrow and regret just faded out of them with a few looks full of meaning he didn't understand and a muttered word that he couldn't grasp the significance of.

But while he sat chewing on his pizza with Ruby asleep on his lap he looked around at them all, Jackie was leaning her head against Hyde's shoulder and finally smiling again and Hyde looked like his usual Zen self again now that Jackie had convinced him he wasn't responsible for his x existing.

The part that was harder for him to look at, was the four others there, after Kings apology the open affection and relief was like looking into the sun. King had upset people that meant more to her than most people could ever comprehend – but Sherlock understood all too well. They cared when they didn't have to, they loved her not out of obligation but because of who and what she was, and it baffled him.

King had her head-on Kicks shoulder like a little kid and for once Kick didn't seem like a goofy scatter brained whirlwind, but a guardian who had made a choice long before to watch out for his younger cousin, lock had trouble understanding how any of them could really mean the care and affection that his own parents – or Kings – hadn't had for their own kids?

But then he looked down at ruby, his t-shirt was clutched in her chubby hand like a security blanket and she was drooling liberally on another portion. And he almost got it, if anyone tried to hurt his sister he'd rip them apart and not feel a thing, family is weird he thought with a sigh and carefully scooped ruby up to put her to bed. He didn't mind her sleeping on him for extended periods but the kitchen chair wasn't as comfortable as the sofa, and he really wanted to be away from people for a while.

No one said a word when he left to put ruby in her crib for the night, but shortly after he left one of them got up to follow him.

He'd just laid her down and was stepping carefully away without taking his eyes off her – if you turned away she woke up, it was uncanny – when he backed up directly into another person in the door way, Lock stifled a surprised yell and spun around to see who was there?

He looked directly into the smirking face of Kingsley, who gestured with her head for him to follow her, he didn't want to really, but knew better than to refuse. So, he followed her outside and over to the gazebo where King sat down and gave him a look he didn't much care for.

"you got something you wanna say?" he asked gruffly, Lock wasn't in the mood for a lecture

"it gets easier Lock" she told him bluntly

"the hell are you talking about?" he asked confused

"for fucks sake kid, I can see it ok?! I can see the wheels turning in that angry little head of yours, you're stuck in the same old thought I used to have 'how the hell can these people mean they give a damn about me and want me around when the people that brought me into the world think I'm worthless? If my parents didn't love me why would anyone else? Is it all a trick? Some long con joke and at some point, they're going to yell 'surprise! We don't want you either!'?" she told him deadly serious, and had the good grace not to comment on the look of shock his face had that she knew what he was trying so hard to hide – that even though he believed Hyde and Jackie that they loved him and cared about him, there was still a tiny debilitating doubt that would take hold of him that it would all disappear and he'd be on his own again, more broken than before.

He looked up at King with a clear question in his eyes and was answered with a crooked grin.

"yeah man, it will go away in time. One day you're going to wake up and say good morning to them and not hold your breath that they're going to say 'it's time for you to go' instead of 'good morning', so slowly you won't even be aware of it they're going to become the people you can rely on no matter what. My folks were garbage Sherlock, they didn't know how to deal with me and they had no interest in trying, and when your own parents don't give a fuck its damn hard to believe anyone does, but my crazy pants hating cousin showed me that he and Max and Connor didn't just care, they wanted me there with them. There's no expiration date on Jackie and Hyde caring about you lock, you take however long you need to process the reality of it all, cus were all going to be here when you do" she assured him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"thanks King" lock murmured thoughtfully, part of him had already known what she said, but it was nice all the same to hear it out loud.

"so" she began in a more light hearted tone "who's this girl you met?" she asked with a wicked grin

Immediately lock blushed and looked away, why were they all making such a big deal out of this?! He wondered irritably 'because it was' a very smug and annoying little voice in the back of his mind told him. He just couldn't figure out why Harley was in the forefront of his mind the way she was? She wasn't exactly the most gorgeous creature he'd ever laid eyes on, gross as it was to him he understood how Jackie had captured Hyde's entire being the moment they met, his mom was one of the most beautiful women you would ever see up close. But although Harley wasn't unattractive, she wasn't the rare beauty Jackie was (however much he wished his mom wasn't that), and really they hadn't even spoken that much and the amount of conversation they had had wasn't one he wanted to replay in his head.

She hadn't shown any interest in him apart from trying to do the decent thing for him, but there she was running rampant in his head, and it was starting to piss him off to be honest.

"I don't get why you're all bringing this up? I met her she got pissed off at me – with good reason – and walked away, that's the whole story and it didn't even grip my interest and I was there!" he told King irritably

Kings grin widened into the pirate grin that could so infuriate those that knew her, and lock was no different.

"you got something to say?" he asked flatly, he respected King more than he let on but this was a touchy subject for him somehow.

"a lot of people like to talk about love at first sight dude, personally I don't really buy it, but I do think there's something else, sometimes we meet people and for no reason we can figure out we need to know them, I think it's the universes way of kicking us in the ass and making us put ourselves out there for better or for worse. Your mom and dad met when they were kids and too young to ignore the connection because the stakes weren't as high as if they had been older. They met and didn't question that they should be around each other, now when I met Connor I was old enough to be self-conscious and not want to just go with it. Also, to be fair, he was crazy hot and that kind of threw me for how to behave" she said with a different sort of grin.

"thanks for sharing that, now that I'm suitably traumatized please continue" Lock said dryly

"I need to know Connor, whether it's being in love or being pals, I need to know him. Jackie and Hyde also need to be in each other's lives, that's why even when their personalities grated and they damn near hated being around each other they still slogged through until they matured some, they are each other's person and that's life changing to find" she told him seriously

"are you talking about soul mates?" he asked skeptically

"no" she replied flatly "that concept implies that you're not whole until you meet some fated other half, and that's a fucking cop out, that shifts responsibility from ourselves for certain actions because 'part of us is missing' it also puts an excessive amount of pressure on the other person to complete us, I am fucking complete on my own! and it's not anyone else's job to fill in the blanks. What I'm talking about is the person that augments what we already were and makes us a better more secure version of ourselves, romance not need be included. I'm fairly sure that Kick and Eric are each other's person too, their friendship had made them happier, more secure people, they have an unspoken agreement to have the others back whether it makes them look foolish or not" she told him in that tone he'd heard Hyde and Jackie refer to, the one that was hard to ignore.

"so you think I met my 'person'?" he asked uncertainly

"I think it's a possibility that shouldn't be dismissed because you made an ass of yourself, you have two choices lock, you can ignore how you're feeling about her and wonder about her for the rest of your life, or you can choke down the embarrassment and track her down and see what happens?" she told him

"so be a coward or be brave?" he summed up thoughtfully

"however you want to look at it, but I will say that the moment you stop letting fear dictate your actions is the moment you really start to feel like your living. Your curious about this girl? Listen to that feeling and find out what it is that make you curious." She finished with a shrug

"and if she won't have anything to do with me?" he asked pointedly

To his annoyance this comment made King laugh "do you really have so much pride you can't make a sincere apology?" she asked through her laughter

"well not right now!" he snapped ruefully

"Sherlock, suck it up and tell her you're sorry and would like to get to know her, don't make a speech, don't over think what you're going to say to any possible response she has, don't create an elaborate scenario, walk up to her the first opportunity you have and tell her the unadorned truth, believe me when I say – cutting through the bullshit works wonders" King advised him in her odd but accurate way.

"I'll think about it" he promised, and that was enough for King, she gave him another pat on the shoulder and left him to himself to consider what she'd said.

The next morning at school Sherlock stalked through the halls with an expression so intent people melted out of his way, the other students found him scary on a good day and the focus he had just then made him terrifying.

Eventually he found the person he was after and stopped short, waiting for her to notice his presence.

"what the hell do you want?" she asked when she finally acknowledged Locks presence.

"to say I'm sorry for being a dick yesterday, you were being Hella cool letting me know she was going to do that to me, and I shouldn't have taken getting pissed out on you. So again, sorry for being a dick" he told her honestly, without elaboration just like King had advised.

Harley stared at him with narrowed eyes, clearly trying to decide if there was some ulterior motive for his apology, her green eyes locked with his gray ones like she was searching for something that would allow her to believe him. Lock took the opportunity to take in the details of her, she was a lot smaller than him which wasn't that strange since he was about 6'1" already, her hair was a reddish blonde that she wore in a long ponytail with over grown bangs falling across her right eye, her face was pretty in a cute sort of way if you ignored the hard-mistrustful look on her face at all times, but he understood that to be honest.

Lock was taking note of the way she stood, like she was ready to defend herself always when it hit him – he wasn't just drawn to her in a friendly way, there were some definitely non – platonic thoughts concerning her taking form in his mind that were a lot more detailed then the ones he had about other girls. He was just planning his exit before he made everything ten times more awkward, when Harley finally spoke.

"apology accepted, umm….do you wanna like….do something after school?" she asked hesitantly, looking up at his greater height through her long dark lashes.

His heart made a series of disconcerting hiccups from that look, and her question made his mouth go dry, Lock had to swallow several times before he could answer her.

"I'm babysitting after school" he told her regretfully for the first time since he'd taken over ruby's care when Jackie and Hyde needed help.

Harley first looked disbelieving which quickly dissolved into anger that he was lying to her.

"yeah whatever Sherlock, you could just say no" she snapped trying to turn and leave, no one likes being rejected even if it was just a friendly gesture from one lonely kid to another.

"no, I really do!" he said swiftly, catching her gently by the arm to stop her from running off before he could explain.

"yeah sure, I bet there's a ton of people that hire a tatted up punk rocker with a Mohawk to watch their kids! I thought you wanted to try being friends, I was wrong, were done here" she snapped angrily, and tried to pull away from him.

"Harley please chill ok? Here look" he said calmly and pulled out his wallet and flipped it open, as soon as he did the many pictures of ruby unfolded in their plastic sleeve for her to see.

Harley took the photo strip and peered curiously at picture after picture of a plump dark haired baby, some on her own, some with lock holding her, and one with him the baby and two youngish people smiling from where they stood behind Lock and the baby, she knew right away it was a family portrait and looked up at him questioningly.

"are those your folks?" she asked confused

"they are now, they took me in cus they're amazing, and then they had my sister Ruby, she's the best thing that I've ever seen and I don't want strangers watching her so I do it when they have things to do. I'd love to hang out with you sometime after school Harley – I really would – but I said I'd hang out with ruby today so they could run errands, and lame as it makes me sound she's my top priority" he explained truthfully.

Again, Harley stared up at him in such a way that his chest went tight, what the hell was happening to him? He wondered nervously.

"are you allowed to have people over?" she asked him in a much softer voice, she wasn't trying to flirt he could tell, she sounded afraid that she would be unwanted?

"as far as I know yes, do you want to come over and hang out with me and ruby?" he asked with surprise, no one he knew had ever wanted to help babysit before.

Harley shrugged and stared at the hall floor uncomfortably and Lock saw right away that he'd said the wrong thing.

"cus id like it if you did" he added honestly

"I'll meet you out front when school lets out" she said half statement half question

"awesome" lock confirmed the plan with a smile he wasn't sure he'd ever had before?

He was on edge all day waiting to meet up with Harley, and when he made his way to the front doors at the end of the day to head to his house with her, he saw her.

She was sitting on the stone railing of the front steps looking casual apart from her eyes darting around looking for something – which he realized with a jolt was him? She was looking for him and she was excited about it?

His heart started the hiccupping again and his gut began doing a series of distracting swooping sensations and again his mouth went dry? He wondered what the hell was happening to him? And then Harley spotted him and smiled, it all fell together with that smile and the force of revelation made his steps falter momentarily.

"I am so fucked" he breathed to himself and headed directly for Harley,

when he reached her she stood up to leave and Lock took some of Kings advice about not letting fear keep you from living, and without over thinking it and giving himself time to wuss out he reached out and took her hand. Harley blushed and looked at the ground but laced her fingers with his, a flurry of unmanly butterflies erupted in his stomach and lock took a steadying breath before beginning to walk hand in hand with Harley towards his home.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N I own nothing, I also won nothing, I type won accidently about 98% of the time so it's funny to me and that's usually all I'm concerned about.

Sherlock found himself wishing that the walk home was longer for the first time since he'd started making it, this was due in large part to the fact that Harleys hand was still held firmly in his and once he got home he knew that would come to an end.

They didn't talk much on the way because each time they looked at each other to speak, they each blush and look away, the best he'd done was comment in passing on a dog across the street that had been abnormally large, and 'wow that's a huge dog' wasn't exactly the peak of sterling conversation he'd been hoping to achieve in her presence.

Soon enough they reached his house, luckily his route home did not take them past the Rockwall house, as proud as he was to know them he just wasn't sure how to explain the mannequin legs in the chimney or the chalk out line family painted in the driveway, and those were just the things you saw at first glance, a closer look revealed a hell of a lot more. It seemed that Kick spent long periods of time out of work and used that time to elaborately decorate his home in peculiar ways, this was something Lock loved about all of them but wasn't in the mood to explain to someone who hadn't met them yet?

He stopped before leading Harley up the path to the front door, "um, so this is my house" he began awkwardly

Harley nodded her head to show she was following along "that would make sense" she agreed hiding a smile at how nervous he was, she like most other kids at school had always thought of him as scary and a little bit dangerous, seeing him now acting shy and flustered was endearing.

"I don't usually bring people over so if my parents act weird don't think much of it they're probably just surprised to have company" he explained the possible grilling she might get, especially from his mom. Jackie was interested in any friend he had ever brought by and he knew it would be ten times more with a girl, also there was the very real possibility of Jackie outright stealing Harley if she ended up liking her enough.

"parents are all the same dude; they give you the third degree but you just shine it on" she said with a shrug born of experience.

Lock raised an eyebrow at her assessment of what would be in store for them, how little she knew of what was to come, he almost wanted to warn her but in the end, chose to let her see for herself because chances were, she wouldn't believe the truth even if he tried to tell her, who would?

He pushed the door open and the usual flurry of activity and Jackie's voice greeted him,

"thank god your home! I'm late and Stevens late and ruby's cranky and I'm so, so glad to see you honey!" Jackie called out to him in a rush as she flitted around the room half dressed with half her hair still in curlers and ruby on her hip yelling and whining irritably, Jackie stopped in her second circuit around the room doing whatever it was she was doing, to give lock a quick hug hello then she was off again, too harried to notice Harley standing there watching with a blank expression on her face.

Lock closed the door and waited for the inevitable realization, Hyde appeared then in his good black pants and best plain black undershirt, his blue button up held in his hand.

"jacks why aren't you dressed yet? We have to be there in an hour and it's a forty-minute drive without traffic" he called with a smirk Sherlock knew was there because Hyde enjoyed when Jackie was kicked into high gear.

"because Steven! Ruby won't be put down and you were in the shower, and I spilled her juice on the dress I was going to wear and can't put her down long enough to choose another one and while it may take you five minutes to get ready mister shaved head only owns four pairs of pants that all look the same – some of us require more!" she snapped loudly, but with enough good humor to keep lock from getting worried.

Hyde approached his tiny flustered wife and gently took their daughter form her arms.

"go, get dressed, calm down, at least enough to notice your son brought a girl home" Hyde said calmly, but shot a look to lock that wasn't apologetic.

"girl what girl?" Jackie said absently as she went into their room to find a juice free dress for their outing, one which they weren't giving Sherlock any information about and he knew they were up to something.

"hello son and strange girl, how are you today?" Hyde asked with a grin for how uncomfortable lock had become now that someone had noticed he'd brought a girl home.

But he didn't get a chance to stammer out an answer before Jackie was yelling for Hyde from the bedroom

"Steven, zipper, help!" she cried desperately

A fond smile touched hides lips and he handed ruby to lock, who took her gladly, and went to Jackie's aid.

"are they always this animated?" Harley asked in a whisper, looking a little confused at the home she'd walked into.

"not all the time" he shrugged distractedly, ruby was fussy and that was out of the ordinary which worried him. He was murmuring to her and bouncing her gently to sooth her and didn't notice at all the expression on Harleys face while she watched him with ruby.

He had finally gotten ruby to settle down enough to doze against his chest, when Hyde and Jackie walked back into the living room and finally noticed Harley standing near the front door, toying nervously with the hem of her threadbare t shirt.

When her eyes fell on Sherlocks parents (as it were) and widened with surprise, now that they were dressed and standing relatively still she saw not only how young they were, but that they were not the parents she had been expecting. Apparently, the family portrait she'd seen was a best foot forward type of situation.

"Sherlock, manners" Jackie called to him firmly

"oh fuck right, uh mom Hyde this is Harley from school, Harley this is my mom and dad" he belatedly introduced them all while trying not to wake ruby.

"well I guess that was close enough" Hyde smirked at locks attempt

"um hello?" Harley said to them with a nervous smile and a small wave

"it's so great to meet you Harley, unfortunately Steven and I have to go out for a few hours but you're welcome to stay and help yourself to anything in the fridge if you're hungry" Jackie said sweetly to the guest, and flashed her a dazzling smile.

"uh thanks?" Harley replied timidly, she had no idea of what to think of this vibrant commanding woman? Truth be told there weren't a whole lot of women in Harleys life to begin with and definitely none like Sherlocks mom, who was beautiful to the point Harley was sort of afraid of her and yet she also seemed genuinely kind?

A sudden and strong urge to run far, far away from the confusing environment she'd stumbled into hit Harley and she would have, except that her eyes fell on lock before she could reach for the door knob and something about the expression on his face while he rocked his baby sister kept her from bolting, she wanted to see if he was as interesting as it seemed he might be?

"alright honey, were off now, if there's a problem call King and we'll be home as soon as we can, love you" Jackie said to Sherlock and Harley couldn't help but smile when her tall classmate stooped down so his tiny foster mother could kiss his cheek and hug him before rushing to the door, but she did manage to remember to wave at Harley as she passed by her in her hurry.

They heard the car door open and close, then open again and tiny tapping footsteps coming towards them again, they both looked curiously to Hyde who hadn't budged during the entire thing, and were not at all surprised to see that he was smirking.

Jackie appeared in the doorway wide eyed.

"girl! You have a girl over and were leaving! Steven, lock brought a girl over and we won't be here! Is that allowed? Are we supposed to let that happen? I don't know what the protocol is for this!" Jackie babbled swiftly, now that she had grasped the entirety of what was going on.

"chill woman! We go, they stay, all will be well in the world" Hyde assured her humorously

"but, but" she protested weakly, her face clearly telling them all she was terrified that she may be making a mistake.

Hyde gave her a quick kiss and smiled at her "its fine doll, Lock won't do anything that we wouldn't be cool with and when you calm down you'll know that too, now let's move" he said and shooed her back out the door, stopping long enough to turn to Sherlock with a grim expression

"I trust you lock please don't let me down ok?" he said seriously, then shot Lock a wicked grin "and don't screw on our bed" and with that humiliating parting shot, Hyde and Jackie drove away.

"so, help yourself to food and don't screw on their bed? Did I get the house rules, right?" Harley asked mildly

Sherlocks face was a truly magnificent shade of red after Hyde's parting shot to embarrass him in front of a girl in the grand 'red Forman' tradition, it made Harley smile slightly, her opinion of Sherlock was shifting quickly.

So, when he sat down on the couch and shifted his baby sister to his side, she couldn't help but stare at him, he wasn't what she'd heard or what she'd thought after he acted like such a jerk the day before. All she knew was that she liked being in his presence, and she had to admit that ruby was really freaking cute, she wasn't usually much for babies but something about the way they were together sparked her interest.

At first they just glanced at each other and smiled shyly back and forth, then after a few false starts, began a halting conversation. Eventually they managed to speak almost normally to each other and were beginning to have a nice time, when ruby began to wake up crying and fussing a lot. After his attempts to sooth her failed, Harley saw that Lock looked more than a little worried about her.

"is she ok?" Harley asked feeling slightly anxious from his expression.

"this is really weird for her, ruby is usually happy and fairly mellow, she hardly ever gets upset like this" he said with a frown.

"maybe she – oh hell!" Harley stopped mid-sentence when ruby threw up all over herself and Sherlock, the amount she purged looked like more than her body mass, which shocked Harley a little.

"shit, sorry Harley I'll be back in a minute" Sherlock said calmly and stood up with ruby and went into the kitchen. Harley soon enough decided to go and help him, figuring he had his hands full with cleaning himself and ruby up after such a mess, but when she entered the bright cheery kitchen she could only stare at him.

Sherlock had taken off his soiled shirt and hadn't bothered to find another one, and was holding a towel wrapped ruby against his chest while he paced back and forth on the phone.

"yes dr. Allan its Sherlock, yes it's about ruby….no it's not like the measles incident! She's fussy and feels hot and just threw up all over me – no I'm not over reacting again!" the conversation went on about the same until finally lock hung up the phone looking pissed and frustrated.

"it's ok ruby, you're ok" he murmured to the still crying baby in his arms.

Harley felt bad for the poor little girl, so uncomfortable but unable to tell them what was wrong, but even that wasn't enough to make her tear her eyes away from the sight of Sherlock shirtless in front of her.

"are you staring at him or the scars?" a new and amused voice asked Harley, snapping her out of her thoughtless staring.

"scars?" Harley asked blankly, she hadn't noticed scars, there was too much to look at with him to notice any scars. She tore herself away from the mesmerizing sight of Sherlock without a shirt and looked at the person who'd spoken – her jaw dropped and her eyes widened, she'd seen this woman around town and even her dad and his friends had been as respectful as they knew how to her, Harley hadn't understood it then, but now that she saw her up close she almost understood, there was a calm air of 'do not fuck with me' exuding from her, whoever she was?

Harleys answer seemed to amuse the odd woman as a crooked grin appeared on her face, but she let it pass and moved to where Sherlock was walking and bouncing ruby trying to stop her crying.

"hey kid, give her to me, take a deep breath, get a new shirt and then we'll figure out what's wrong, we don't want another 'measles incident' do we? Go take a minute to calm down, I'll take care of her" the new arrival told Sherlock calmly, and Harley watched curiously while he relinquished his precious baby sister to the scary woman with choppy black hair.

He slipped out of the kitchen to go get a clean shirt and on a whim Harley followed him, and was sure the woman noticed that she did. Sherlock however – didn't, so that when Harley closed the door behind her while he was digging through a drawer, he jumped and spun to see who closed the door?

"…. hi" he said after a long moment just staring at Harley

"hi" she responded softly, feeling a lot less bold and brave than she had when she decided to follow him, all that confidence seemed to have stayed out in the hall.

Lock swallowed hard and racked his brain for something to say that didn't sound totally lame, he came up with "so, you like the raiders?" he asked awkwardly, indicating her worn t-shirt.

Harley looked down at her shirt, shed forgotten what she was wearing, and shrugged non-committaly

"I'm out of clean laundry, it was this or a hand me down that says 'ride or die'" she admitted

After that intimate exchange, they lapsed back into tense silence, Sherlock didn't know why she'd followed him and Harley honestly didn't either?

For a lack of anything better to do, Sherlock went back to looking for a shirt, he didn't like anyone seeing him without a shirt because of the very same scars that he didn't know Harley hadn't actually noticed.

She felt a pang of disappointment when he swiftly pulled a ratty 'fear' shirt over his head, but seeing as how she couldn't think of a reasonable way to keep him from putting it on, she shoved the disappointment down and crossed to where he stood and hopped up to sit on his dresser.

"so what's the measles incident?" she asked him curiously

Sherlock sighed and looked acutely embarrassed,

"promise you won't give me a hard time if I tell you?" he asked hopefully

"I can't promise that, but I promise I'll try to try not to" she said with a smile

"that's probably the best I can hope for actually" he said acceptingly and sat down on his bed facing Harley on her perch "so when ruby was only a few months old I was watching her so mom and Hyde could have a nice dinner and relax for a few hours, it was the first time id watched her alone, well I was changing her and I saw all these red bumps all over her and….I freaked out calling the doctor because I thought she had the measles, I kept remembering when this family down the block back in dog town lost a baby to the measles and I panicked a bit….or realistically I freaked the fuck out and made come here to check her out because I couldn't get her to his office, he doesn't do house calls incidentally and only agreed so I would stop calling in a blind panic. Well he got here and took one look at her and burst out laughing" Sherlock told her uncomfortably, he was still embarrassed by the events he was retelling.

"what was it in the end?" Harley asked curiously, she didn't know much about babies.

Sherlock sighed and rubbed his face "diaper rash, ruby has very delicate skin and gets diaper rash really, really easily. So, I flipped out in a dead panic over diaper rash and have yet to hear the end of it. To be fair if I'd heard of someone else acting like such a dumbass, I'd give them a hard time too" he told her acceptingly.

"it's nice that you care that much, I've never seen anyone care about another person the way you do about ruby" Harley told him thoughtfully, she didn't have a nurturing home life and was both confused and a little jealous by what she'd witnessed in locks house so far.

"she's never going to know what terrible things people can do, I don't care what I have to do to keep her from seeing the things I've seen" he said in a low darkly serious voice.

"I wish I'd had that, I think a lot of people wish they had, she's lucky to have so many people looking out for her" Harley told him honestly,

She wasn't in the habit of sharing details about her life, but she didn't need to with lock, she knew that he didn't need to know the gritty details to see she'd had it rough and had no interest in ever talking about it. Everyone had their sad stories, hers wasn't anything special as far as she could see, and talking about it all just seemed like she was looking for pity and she hated pity.

Sherlock stood up and crossed to Harley, still perched on his dresser and held out a hand to help her down, Harley took it but instead of getting down, she stared thoughtfully at his hand for a moment? He was about to ask if she was ok? When she used his hand to pull him swiftly down to her level, surprising him with such an unexpected move.

"uh" was all he managed to say while his face was mere inches from hers, considering that the day before he had made her hate him with his thoughtless words, he couldn't for the life of him figure out what was going on now?

Harleys bright green eyes were locked again on his, and he could see the wheels turn in her mind as she worked to come to a decision he couldn't begin to imagine, normally he was excellent at reading people -even those he didn't know – but in his defense, being so close to her was extremely distracting and his skills were failing him with each millimeter he moved closer to her.

Finally, she spoke, in a soft whisper so low he barely heard her she said these words

"I think I like you"

He didn't have a name for the feeling he got when he heard her say that? The quite analytical part of his mind was saying that they'd just met and were stupid if they thought there were real feelings happening already, but that part of his mind had been born of loneliness and abuse, and had a skewed view of the world because of what he'd suffered. So, this time he decided to believe that good things were possible, and ignore the pessimistic voice.

"I'm pretty sure I like you too" he breathed his response and swallowed against the now familiar dryness in his throat that accompanied Harley being nearby.

"I'll be honest Sherlock; I have no idea what's supposed to happen from here?" Harley admitted, sill whispering for some reason?

"god I hope you're not relying on me to know?" he laughed wryly, still hovering inches from Harley, crouching that way was beginning to make his back ache, but he chose to ignore that for the time being.

"well yeah actually, you're the one with all the experience in this capacity" she stated what she believed to be the truth.

It was so far off the mark that Sherlock began laughing and dropped his head.

"hate to break it to you gorgeous, but my experience in this capacity – doesn't exist" he told her with a small smile.

"none?" she asked disbelievingly

"not a damn bit" he confirmed

"but you have kissed someone" she said surely

"no, that's encompassed by the 'not a damn bit' actually" he pointed out with a soft laugh, he wasn't ashamed of his lack of experience as it had been a conscious choice, a lot of the kids he'd known on the streets had started getting sick when he was somewhere around 14 or so, and he'd made the decision to not become one of them by shunning any, and all physical contact.

No matter how much some of the girls had come onto him while high or drunk or just usual lonely, he'd never given in to those urges, even if it took him having to bolt from a place in the middle of the night – which it had a few times.

"well in that case" Harley murmured, looking less nervous now that she knew he wasn't near as 'worldly' as she'd initially thought, and slid her free hand up his neck – pulling him the rest of the way to her, his breath caught and his heart stuttered out of rhythm, her eyes shut as he drew closer and he almost let his fear make him pull back and run, but then…..but then, Harley closed the distance and pressed her lips softly to his and there was no place he'd rather be.

He was going on pure instinct, and banking on Harleys good grace to forgive mistakes would make. His biggest impulse was to get rid of any space between them – so he did. It didn't seem to bother Harley, because she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

Sherlock was just deciding that, kissing Harley was something he would be doing for the foreseeable future, when there was sharp knock on the door followed immediately by it swinging open. They both turned guiltily to the door, blushing deeply when they saw King standing there smirking at them with a much calmer Ruby in her arms.

"I believe I said 'get dressed' not 'undress your friend'" King said to Sherlock teasingly, and glanced down at his hand that was under Harleys shirt, but had stopped at her waist out of locks inherent decency – and fear, there was a whole lot of fear involved with what he was doing.

"uh…I…uh…?" Sherlock stuttered awkwardly

"that was a truly touching speech Sherlock, but really, I don't care if you're in here kissing. I barged in for two reasons, one – to make sure it stays at just kissing, because if it goes further on my watch Jackie will kill me, and that's not how I want to go down! And two – I thought you'd want to know that ruby is just teething and that's why she had the slight fever, I gave her a cool bath and some children's Tylenol and she's back to normal" King told him comfortingly

Sherlock felt a wave of relief wash over him, "oh thank god" he breathed, unconsciously resting his head against Harleys shoulder.

Harley was frozen in mortified embarrassment that King had walked in on them, and Sherlock laying his head on her shoulder made it worse, it drew Kings attention to her.

But King shot Harley a comforting smile "pants stay buttoned or I call over Kick and Eric!" King informed them with amused seriousness, this threat however got locks full attention, Harley might not have understood a word of it but he sure as hell did.

"we'll behave!" Lock promised fervently, Harley nodded agreement just to be helpful.

King flashed them a beatific smile engineered to make them as nervous as possible, before swinging the door shut again and calling out "as you were!".

"who is she again?" Harley asked curiously

"my mom's best friend King" Lock explained in as level a voice as he could manage with her arms around him

"your family is very…. interesting" Harley noted with a kind smile

"I'm not finding them very interesting right now" Sherlock murmured and kissed her again.


	16. Chapter 16

I own nothing

A/N so I got distracted by another story I started, 'running from turtles'. I'm sorry about that, it was supposed to be a one shot but people asked for more so…I'm behind in lock step and gone. Which I feel bad about because I have two other stories that may never get updated already, so I need to be careful. But I love this one too much to leave it for long, I love King and Kick and Connor and Max, I love Lock and Ruby and my versions of Jackie and Hyde and I'm not going anywhere until I've given them what the respect they deserve.

It had been about two weeks since Harley had come over to locks house, and in those two weeks Lock had experienced the best and worst points of his life. Being with Harley was excellent, there wasn't a single part of that whole business that lock had a problem with, well maybe the part where she was a little bit braver about…. physical contact, then he was.

Not that he was against it, not by a long shot, but ah…. she was a lot more…ambitious than lock was.

The worst, was what he had suffered since people had found out about Harley, these people were commonly known as – Kick, Eric, Connor and Max. since those four had got wind that he had – for lack of a better term – girlfriend, his life had become a tapestry of pain. The mocking! Dear God the mocking! It never ended, and was worked into conversation where there had not been a possible opening to introduce the topic!

Lock would have been impressed if he hadn't wanted so badly, to murder them for the hell they put him through. Now, on the one hand, he knew they were just teasing him in the way they teased each other, and in a way, it made him feel like a real member of the family, on the other, if they didn't back the hell off he was at risk of doing something drastic.

He was not from a background that dealt well with friendly joking, he was too tense, too on alert, too damaged, to take it as fun. Luckily for him he had a guardian angel.

When Jackie heard the crap her family had been throwing locks way, she went enraged she bear on them!

"if I hear one more taunt, joke, innuendo, remark or insinuating tone from any of the damn lot of you, I will rain down my wrath like a biblical fucking flood! If you make my boy feel bad about being happy one more damn time there will be nowhere on god's green earth where you can hide from me! Are we perfectly clear on all points?!" she had bellowed at them with her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing dangerously.

Lock had watched in awe as the four bigger more frightening looking men, sat quietly and nodded that they would obey what his mom had said. He glanced at King where she stood leaning against the door way, and saw a proud smirk on her face, it was mirrored on Hyde's while he watched his tiny wife smack down her friends.

"perhaps they acted rashly?" King posed the question to Hyde with barely contained laughter.

"I would say that's an understatement my friend, have you ever seen those nature shows where the hikers unwittingly get between a bear and her cub? We've just seen the urban version" Hyde told her quietly with his arms crossed over his chest while he watched the scene before them.

"and here we have the shortsighted males of the herd, who foolishly played too rough with the cub of the regal and fearsome 'Jaqueline', they seem to be playing dead?" King said in a soft voice

"you're correct Kingsley, their only hope in such a dire situation, is to show total subservience to the fearsome Jaqueline, should they challenge her their chances of survival are slim" Hyde responded also using the same documentary tone as King.

"they have it coming" Lock said sullenly from behind them where he sat at the kitchen table bouncing Ruby on his leg, while he tried to ignore what was happening in the living room.

King looked at Hyde, her eyes questioning, ice blue met dark blue with concurrence and they turned and took seats at the small table, giving Lock similar somber looks.

"they never meant to really upset you lock, now that Jackie's shown them the error of their ways, I promise you they won't act like you tattled on them, they'll realize what assholes they've been and be sorry" Hyde told him seriously

"he's right kid, dumbasses they may be, but they're not jerks, they were so excited for you about Harley that they acted like total fucking morons, but they were just trying to get you to show the same excitement. Because they're basically children in men's bodies they went about it the wrong way. But they are your family now, and they care, don't worry about them taking this out on you when Jackie's done with them, if anything, they'll be falling over themselves to apologize" King assured him, backing up Hyde's statements about the whole thing.

Lock stared into Ruby's deep blue eyes, as if the baby could give him the answer he needed, his attention on her made Ruby laugh and jump in his arms, and it hit him – he was being kind of silly.

Sure, they had been overly annoying, but he didn't need to hold a grudge about it. Jackie had set them straight, and he knew that they would be careful not to cross the line again and risk her fury.

"you're right Ruby, I should just laugh it off, they didn't mean to be assholes, did they?" he said softly to the bouncing curly haired girl.

"ruby tends to give excellent advice" Hyde agreed seriously

Lock lifted Ruby into the air above his head and couldn't help but grin when she giggled happily while she flew high above him (from her perspective anyway).

"can she come in for landing?" Jackie asked, walking into the kitchen

Lock nodded and zoomed Ruby into Jackie's arms,

"hey Ruby Tuesday, did your big brother tell you what's happening this weekend? He didn't?! well, then I will baby doll, this weekend will be your very first 'burning'!" Jackie told her daughter happily.

The burning was a Rockwall tradition, once a year, before summer set in for good, they would gather their extended friends and family, block off the roads to traffic (the neighbors joined in too) and light a massive bonfire in the middle of the road while they played music on the stage erected in their front yard. It was their own version of a block party, and even the older stuffy neighbors loved the burning, there was a chance that had to do with the free beer, but from what Lock had seen, most of them were secretly fond of their crazy neighbors.

Sure, Kick could drive them to drink on a good day, but there was no denying that they were safe in their homes with him and his housemates nearby, you'd have to be stupid or suicidal to come onto that street looking for trouble.

"and this year, cutest baby ever, it's a costume party!" Jackie told her excitedly "you and lock are going to be peter pan and tinker bell" she told Ruby confidently

"I agreed to no such thing" Lock pointed out flatly

"she would be so cute as tinker bell though!" Jackie wheedled

"she'd be adorable as anything, I on the other hand, will not under any circumstances wear tights!" Lock told her adamantly

Jackie stared intently into locks hard gray eyes, trying to win by sheer will, but she underestimated his aversion to tights and had to eventually give in.

"fine, no peter pan, but it would have been cute dammit!" she said forcefully

"how about you and dad dress up as them and me and ruby will do our own thing?" Lock suggested placidly

"nice try Sherlock, but jacks and I have a long-standing tradition of me refusing to wear stupid outfits to amuse her" Hyde informed him dryly

"but Steven – "

"no! not gonna happen doll, don't even try" he denied the ridiculous idea without malice, but there was no way in hell anyone in that room was willingly going to wear tights, no matter how much they loved Jackie.

"fine" Jackie sighed, she knew when something wasn't worth the effort and as adorable as she was convinced it would be, she wanted them all to enjoy the burning, not just her.

"so, can Ruby and I choose our own costumes?" Lock asked curiously, she may have abandoned the peter pan thing, but Jackie was a person that had seven back up plans at any given time and he was sure this was no different.

Jackie looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, like she was sizing up his ability to do the occasion justice? Finally, she grinned.

"I think that's an awesome idea! But, I expect you both to look amazing!" she charged him seriously

"mom chill, its Ruby, she's cute wearing a diaper and socks, I think I can find something appropriately cute for her ok?" he laughed and retrieved his sister and salvation from Jackie to go and figure out something that would make Jackie happy.

"wait Sherlock," Jackie called before he could get to far

"yeah mom?" he asked politely

"you should invite Harley, now that your uncles have been dealt with" Jackie told him casually

Lock stared at her and Hyde and King for a second while he turned over what Jackie said in his mind.

"yeah, ok" he said finally with a definite flush raising on his face, and took off with Ruby to plan for the impending burning.

"um, are we allowed off the couch yet?" epics nervous voice called from the living room where they'd been forgotten after Jackie took them to task for their teasing of lock.

Jackie rolled her eyes "of course you are, you're grown men, I can't make you sit there and think about what you've done" Jackie pointed out rationally

"and yet, here we all sit" Kick reminded her curiously

"get in here all of you, we have a lot of planning to do for the burning, and we only have three more days!" Jackie called to them urgently, while Hyde fetched the planner for the event off the counter top.

There was still a lot to take care of before the day arrived, but they each had their jobs and knew what to do. A significant change from previous years, was that Jackie had assumed the role of neighborhood liaison this year instead of Kick, for some reason things were going a lot more smoothly then they had before?

While Connor and Hyde worked on the stage, Max and King worked on setting up more entertainment as the burning ran from morning until well into the night, the early part of the day was more for families and kids, while the night portion was a little crazier.

Eric and Kick, were everywhere doing any and every little thing needed, and as far as anyone could tell, this year's festivities would be the stuff of legends.

A/N so I'm going to stop here because I need to go to sleep. I know it's short and I'm sorry, it's kind of like part one of this portion of the story. I wanted to do some sort of update tonight and I hope this was better than nothing? Also, I am taking suggestions for what to include in the burning, so I hope to hear from you for that.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N so, everyone's probably forgotten about this story, and that's my fault. I just haven't been able to form the story in my head, having said that this chapter is probably going to suck, but I figure if I push though maybe I can get back on track? Hopefully a few of you out there still have some interest and are kind about how rusty I am.

And on we go.

Harley stopped at the corner of Locks street and adjusted the cat ears headband on her head, her 'boyfriend' if that was the right term? Had mentioned in passing that the party she was about to walk into, was a costume party. She was not a 'costume' person, but there wasn't a force on earth that could make her act like a jerk around Locks peculiar family, she'd spent her life in the company of bikers and criminals and wasn't easily intimidated but, Locks mom and aunt blew that record.

Jackie and King were what most scared young women aspired to be, they wore their flaws and mistakes likes badges of honor, not allowing them to diminish them but, only to enhance who they were. For bad or good what they had gone through made up who they were now, and Harley wanted that too. She was also growing more than a little fond of Lock…. fond probably wasn't the right word? There was something there she didn't understand? The incapacitating attraction she totally got, it was more how when she was with him, she felt like she really was the person she claimed to be.

He solidified and gave truth to the illusion of her, and it gave her confidence and comfort, like – she wasn't just pretending to be who she wanted to be, like she was that person? And that made her feel hope for one of the first times in her life.

But all that aside – she still wasn't a costume person, and she felt like a moron wearing cat ears and black clothes! And this outfit was a step up from her original one, which was a nametag that said batman, she'd realized what a lame cop out that was and did what she could to step up her game just a bit, the cat had been born.

Taking a deep breath, Harley set out walking again towards the party, she could already hear it before she could see it, the din of so many people all talking it once with loud music playing as a back drop, it was enticing and scary at the same time. as she got nearer and people came into focus she began to scan the knots of people for Lock. As she saw more of the guests for the burning as she made her way to the epicenter (the Rockwall house) her costume was put in starker contrast to the other people's efforts, she also noted absently that 'rubber clad dominatrix' was a much more popular choice then she would have guessed.

After passing by a group of elderly people from down the street who were dressed as the characters from I love Lucy, Harley heard her name called. Turning towards the voice her jaw and stomach dropped simultaneously, it was Lock with Ruby perched on his hip as she'd expected, but what she hadn't expected was to be met with the sight of her deceptively well-built boyfriend wearing nothing but blue jeans and a brown leather vest. She was blinking rapidly while she worked to adjust her brain to the sight – which was a lot harder than one would have thought – and also work out what he was supposed to be dressed as? She took a closer look at Ruby and the tiny girl gave her the clue she needed.

Ruby was dressed in a tiny pinstriped baseball uniform while chewing on a tiny foam bat, and one of her bright blue eyes had a black circle painted around it. A laugh escaped Harleys lips as a smile took them over, he'd dressed he and his sister as a warrior and one of the baseball furies! She wondered for a second how he'd gotten that choice past his mom? Perhaps it was how damn cute Ruby looked in her outfit? But whatever the reason she found herself having more trouble than she'd thought she would looking away from the bare chest she was presented with.

Shaking her head and reminding herself she wasn't a braindead salivating pervert (usually), she managed to say words, in English even! For which she was very proud of herself.

"hey, you two look great" she said as normally as she could manage.

"thanks, I'm glad you made it" Lock said with a smile she could get used to.

"figured skipping it wasn't an option after the invite I got from your mom" Harley said with a wry smile, Jackie hadn't left a lot of wiggle room for a polite decline of the invitation to the burning, it was more along the line of a royal summons, and again Harley wondered how the tiny woman pulled that off with such ease?

"oh, it totally wasn't, but ya know – some people still fight against the gravitational pull that is 'Jackie'" Lock told her as Ruby watched them curiously.

"how does that work out for them?" Harley asked with a raised eyebrow

"poorly" Lock said simply

"shocked I am not" Harley told him dryly

"there are worse things than being in her orbit thought" Lock murmured as if to himself, and Harley saw a slight shadow pass over his sharp gray eyes.

She could still only guess at the origin of it since she didn't yet feel comfortable asking him about how he had ended up as the son of these people, she was smart enough to know whatever had brought him to them probably didn't involve rainbows and puppies, no, here there be dragons.

"where are they anyway?" Harley asked in a blatant attempt to change the subject away from whatever it was that still caused him pain.

"over by the stage, Rockwall's playing later but they're not the only band on the roster, and King apparently 'doesn't trust people she knows', so they're all hanging around making sure no one does shit they'd have to clean up after" he explained in a normal tone again, having clearly decided not to let his brain ruin the day with its memories.

"let's go say hi" Harley suggested, and walked after Lock and Ruby as they made their way through the crowd of people talking and eating off paper plates loaded to capacity, while kids of varying ages ran around with painted faces clutching balloon animals. princesses with tiger faces, superman's who'd been zombified rushed past them with the skill exclusive to children, and Harley couldn't help but grin – it was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

"mom!" Lock yelled, literally 'over' the crowd, since most couldn't match his height. Without hesitation, Lock took hold of Harleys hand to keep her with them as they broke a path through the denser crowd around the stage his uncles had constructed, and thankfully didn't notice how she reacted – overt she could handle, subtle made her heart beat out of her chest, maybe there was something wrong with her?

When Lock had successfully gotten them through the crowd Harley stopped when he did and felt her jaw drop yet again – did everybody grasp this costume thing better than her?! Locks parents were watching them with smiling faces while dressed impeccably as bonnie parker and Clyde barrow, she was a little envious that the slightly older woman could pull off so many different styles with no effort, but she was also smart enough to recognize Jackie as one of a kind.

"hey sweetheart!" Jackie called happily and hugged Lock and Ruby as best she could before turning to Harley with that 1000-watt smile "I'm so glad you came Harley! And I love your costume" Jackie told her genuinely, which Harley couldn't really believe.

"uh, it's just a headband…" she replied awkwardly

"honey, I've had to make small talk with no less than four guys wearing nothing but a sock and claiming to be 'the invisible man', trust me when I say your headband is worlds better" Jackie informed her seriously

"that sounds unpleasant" Harley noted dryly

"the burning has its drawbacks like any other event, but there's nothing else like it" Jackie said with a beatific smile

"true, I've never actually seen a dude dressed as ginger from Gilligan's island making balloon animals before, and Lock said there's bands playing later?" she asked curiously

"that there are Locks special lady friend!" a jubilant male voice called to Harley, she looked towards the owner of the voice and laughed, Locks uncle Kick was striding forward smiling at the activity all around and seemingly unconcerned that he was wearing nothing but a polka dot skirt and a pair of mouse ears?

"what are you supposed to be?" Lock asked curiously, while trying valiantly not to laugh.

"well I WAS Minnie mouse! Until certain hulking Irishman that shall remain nameless, thought it would be fun to spray me down with grape soda for absolutely no reason" he said with a huff of indignance "the skirt and the ears were all that came through unscathed" he explained

"it wasn't for no reason you tremendous pain in the ass!" Connor yelled irritably as he joined them, giving Kick a dangerous scowl

"I am as innocent as a new born babe!" Kick cried defiantly

"you are no more innocent than I am English! You threw up in my drums! Not ON- IN! I had to use a tooth brush to get them clean you inconsiderate crossdressing mouskateer!" Connor bellowed

"it was an accident!" Kick defended loudly

"you're both idiots" Max informed them in his low voice upon joining the small group by the wooden stage.

"that's rich coming from the king of costume cop-outs! That's the best effort you could make for such a special occasion – a t shirt that says 'costume' on it? This isn't just any burning man, this is where we announce that Lo-Oomph" Kick was stopped abruptly in what he was saying by his cousin appearing out of nowhere and smacking a hand over his mouth.

"pay no attention to the man in the Minnie skirt people, his mind has been irrevocably damaged by the 70's" King drawled angrily

Realizing he had almost said something he was clearly not supposed to, Kick shot them a sheepish smile and scampered away to check on the event as fast as his yellow high heels allowed him.

"why do we put up with him?" Max asked curiously

"his good points out weigh the bad" King said loyally

"easy for you to say, he's afraid of pissing you off" Connor retorted irritably

"aw, Conner" King cooed mockingly "you're all afraid of that" she pointed out truthfully, and no one could argue it. She glanced at Lock and Ruby and smiled widely "that's fantastic!" she said taking in their outfits.

"I don't quite get it?" Jackie admitted with a small frown, she was aware her daughter was downright adorable in her little old timey baseball uniform, but she wasn't sure what her kids were supposed to be?

"it's from that movie 'the warriors', remember? Locks a warrior and Ruby's one of the baseball furies" Max explained

"was that the movie about all the gangs that I fell asleep during?" Jackie asked, trying to recall what they were talking about

"that would be the one" Hyde confirmed with a small loving smile.

"well even if I don't really remember it – you look great honey" she told lock sweetly, but Harley saw her eyes dart towards the exposed scars on Locks chest and stomach that the leather vest couldn't cover, and she knew, she knew that Jackie didn't really give a damn what he was wearing, but that he wasn't ashamed of what usually hid under his t shirts. If he could let the world see it, it meant he was beginning to heal and move on from it.

"what are you supposed to be King?" Lock asked his aunt curiously, she was dressed as an exaggerated version of her usual punk rock self

"I'm what people think of when they hear 'punk rocker'" she explained with a shrug

"and we have the cop out first runner up" Hyde said with a smirk

"yeah well, dressing up isn't really my thing dude, I'll leave that to those better suited" she said without a hint of remorse

"and Connor?" Lock asked turning to his terrifying uncle (until you got to know him)

"I'm snake pliskin, and Mad is well – Mad Max" he said grinning down at his small son dressed as the road warrior, who was currently reaching for his tiny best friend so far out of reach in Locks arms.

Lock noticed Mads efforts right away and set Ruby down in the grass so they could have a babbling conversation that only they understood.

"Kingsley!" he heard a male voice shout through the crowd almost maniacally, growing tense, Lock stood protectively in front of the two playing children and Harley. A fact she didn't miss, and found kind of sweet in an unneeded way.

King turned towards the direction her name had been yelled, just in time to catch the blur of a person hurling themselves at her in a rambunctious bear hug, Lock only had time to catch a flash of sun bleached blonde hair before the human missile was locked around a laughing Kingsley, he relaxed when he was sure she knew and didn't mind the person latched around her.

"still wild" she laughed fondly as she untangled herself from the newcomer.

"can't be any other way King" he replied with a matching wild laugh,

And then he pulled away enough from King for Lock to get a good look at him, and he froze in shock just as the wild man's eyes fell on him and recognition dawned.

"Sherlock?" he asked with uncertainty, the face was familiar, but the boy he'd known was over a foot shorter and skinny as hell from irregular meals, not the towering teenager he was seeing now at a definite upwards angle.

"hey Jay boy…how've you been?" Lock greeted him nervously, he may have idolized Jay back in Venice and he sure as hell owed his survival to him, but still, being faced with a part of his past was throwing him for a loop.

King looked back and forth between the two "explain" she demanded calmly of them both

"knew him back in dog town -we all did, he used to hang around the zephyr shop talking a mile a minute about the most random crazy shit ever, like – weird for a little kid to know kinda stuff, we nicknamed him Sherlock and let him hang around and learn to skate" jay answered with a shrug, not offering up the story of what he'd done for the poor kid he'd never expected to see again, but he felt a certain relief to find the little skate rat still alive after all.

"you grew up with the Z boys and never thought to mention it?" King asked him archly

"tried to forget dog town" Lock muttered uncomfortably "besides, I didn't know you knew them"

"Lock, there aren't a lot of our kind around, it's usually safe to assume we all know each other at least in passing, hell, one of the bands playing tonight is fronted by Jim's little brother mike" she told him with a grin.

"shit" Lock murmured blankly, trying hard not to panic at having his traumatic past dumped on him out of nowhere.

And then she was there, putting a small comforting hand on his shoulder while placing herself in front of him just as he'd done to mad and Ruby.

"nice to meet you Jay, I'm Sherlocks mom Jackie" she introduced herself sweetly, but with a clear protective glint in her eyes.

"right, new mom, got it. Impressive trade up Sherlock" jay grinned with a teasing tone, but he meant what he said.

"thanks" Lock said with a frown, he had no idea what the proper response was for what jay had said?

Jay nodded while he adjusted to the odd situation he'd found himself in, it was like seeing a ghost – and not just because they'd all figured the kid hadn't survived living on the streets alone, it reminded him of those days when his own life had been simpler and his friends were real. Shaking the morose thoughts from his head the wide grin reappeared on his face.

"come on kid, let's see what you got now" he said with a challenging smirk and tilted his head to the plywood ramp some kids were already on, trying desperately to look cool even while they wiped out gloriously in front of their hero.

"uh, I haven't really skated much lately Jay" Lock hedged uncomfortably, this wasn't exactly true – he skated all the time, just not in front of anyone, especially the girl he'd just started seeing, and he couldn't really handle the thought of wiping out in front of Harley.

"aw Sherlock, that's adorable" jay said in a falsely sweet tone and tilted his head to the side while he observed the tall young man "you thought it was an invitation, have you forgotten the shop rules? When we let you hang around – "he left it for Lock to finish

"you do what we say" Lock finished with a nostalgic smile, and took the board jay offered him much to the surprise of his new family around him, it was possible he mused while walking to the ramp, that he'd neglected to mention his long-time hobby?

Oh well, he was fairly sure his new family wouldn't make too big of a deal out of it….


End file.
